Death City Divas
by Pyocola Analogue III
Summary: AU: The downside to being a crime fighter? The magical girl transformation, the talking cat that turns into a sexy lady and there's the whole Not-Having-Health-Coverage thing. Not to mention; complicated love life much? SoMa
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter One: Talking Purple Cat Cliché

The more she thinks about it, the worse her headache gets. After all, her day started out simple enough. It was the last Sunday before she started up her new semester of school and she was going to a new café with her best friend, Soul Evans. She had met Soul years ago, when they were but little kids, and they'd simply been stuck together ever since. The main reason for going to the café was that she had beat him at a game of War and the deal was winner buys the other a treat wherever they want; it was also their final hoorah before they'd be spending less time together. Soul's family was rich and demanded that he attend a private music academy to hone his skills. Maka would be attending a normal high school. She had picked this new place and grinned widely at herself in the mirror; new things rarely happened in Death City.

Plus she wanted to tell Soul she liked him since this may very well be their last time to see each other for a while.

She had put her hair up in her usual pigtails with lavender colored ribbons with frill along the edges. She partnered it with a sleeveless pink dress with a white stripe along the midriff. A little golden chain with a small round pendant rested against her collarbone; a trinket her mother had left in her care before she left to see the world. She smiled and put on some pink flats to finish off the outfit, grabbing her little white purse. She had pulled out her best outfit just for this occasion.

"Maka, there's a shark-toothed excuse of a boy here claiming he has plans with you! Shall I chase him away?" The voice of her father echoed up the stairs, turning her attention from her reflection. She shook her head and walked down, raising her eyebrow as she slipped past her father. She had to give him mad props over how he could pull off the pink, frilly apron he was wearing as he did the house work; not many men would feel comfortable in that.

"I'll be home around four or five for dinner tonight, Papa. Try not to lose track of time with whatever bimbo you invite over; I won't be accepting any guests to dinner tonight," She said simply, brushing past him without a second glance. She chose to ignore the offended little whimper her father made at the harsh comment. She felt no pity since it was his fault her mother had left anyway. She headed to the door and spotted her companion for the afternoon leaning against the doorframe.

Soul Evans was an interesting specimen of the male race, to say the least. He had hair as white as freshly fallen snow during winter partnered with luminous red eyes that Maka swore could glow in the dark. He was wearing a black tank top with a maroon tinted jean jacket that helped accent the shade of his eyes. He finished it off with casual blue jeans that had faded spots and a random square of a navy blue fabric stitched over the left knee. Black boots were on his feet and he had accessorized with a thin, dark brown belt that was set too wide and tilted off one of his hips to rest against in his thigh. He gave her a once over before smirking and revealed matching rows of jagged shark-like teeth. "You look passable," He said while pressing off of the doorframe.

"Gee, how wonderful I got your seal of approval," She scoffed with a roll of her eyes. He grinned while heading out, Maka right behind him. She locked up the door behind her then tossed her keys back into her bag. "So I want you to know I'm probably going to pick the biggest, most expensive dessert they have to offer."

"Why?" He groaned lowly, already feeling a sting in his back pocket. It was going to be so terribly light if that was her angle. She grinned at him.

"We could just share it," She suggested calmly. He made a face and she made a face back in response. "What?"

"Sharing a dessert with a flat bookworm like you? That'd be totally uncool," He said with a small laugh. Emerald spheres shifted a bit, widening in hurt, before narrowing into a glare and she started walking faster than him. He blinked, immediately noticing the shift in her attitude. "What's your problem now?" He asked flatly.

"Nothing!" She snapped without looking back, her fists clenched at her sides. She had almost forgotten why she had thought about not telling him she liked him; Soul was "cool" and Maka… Well, she wasn't the epitome of said word like him. Hell, she wasn't even on the same playing field as him. He always made jokes like that and normally she'd either hit him or laugh it off. It normally didn't affect her this badly but this was their last outing together for a while. Couldn't he at least try to take it seriously?

"If you're going to be like this what's even the point?" He asked with a scowl. She stopped and looked at him, glare still in place. "If all you're going to do is act like a prissy little brat and act like this over one little joke – a joke, I'd like to add, I make all the time – then we aren't going to have any fun. Maybe we should just say it's all over now and end it on this note." He said, rolling his eyes at the sarcasm in his last words.

"Maybe we should," She mumbled softly, looking down at her feet. What did she do all of this for, anyway? After all, he would never like her back. Her feelings would only get in the way, complicate their comfortable bond, and she couldn't stand that thought. Having no relationship would be degrees better for her than to have to try and make sense of a forced, twisted version.

"See, now you're thinking st- Wait, what did you say?" He said quickly, body tensing up as his mind caught up with him. He was expecting her to agree with him, to admit that he was right and she was wrong. Then they could go to the café, enjoy some desserts and that would be that.

"I said it's over, done, finished. We're not each other's problem anymore," She said before turning and running away. She heard him call after her and start to follow her but she merely started going faster. She had always been faster than him, gotten marks that were a few points higher than him during the running sessions in school, so she didn't fear him catching up. Then all she had to do was throw in some turns and twists, get lost in a crowd, and she'd be fine.

It didn't take a lot of effort since there were tons of people milling about in the area, given it was the very last day of summer.

She stopped by a small cupcake stand and got a chocolate one with pink frosting and matching sprinkles. She took a bite before sitting down on the edge of a fountain, watching other people as they walked through. A group of elementary kids carrying baseball bats, gloves and tossing a ball came from her left, implying they were probably heading to the park to play. She saw an elderly woman shuffling past with a large paper bag. And then she saw the happy couple breeze past, absorbed in only each other and content with that. "This is only making me feel even worse," She mumbled lightly, taking another large bite of her cupcake and licking some frosting from the corner of her lip. She watched the couple pause to exchange a quick kiss before they rushed off into one of the nearby shops. She responded by shoving the rest of her cupcake in her mouth.

"Didn't do as much as it usually does, in the way of comfort food," She grumbled lowly. She tossed the empty yellow wrapper into a nearby trash can and dusted off her hands.

"Mew," She heard behind her. She turned around to find a small purple cat sitting next to her, golden eyes gleaming merrily. Maka cautiously reached out and scratched beneath its chin, awarding her with the fluffy creature pressing its head into her hand and purring loudly.

"It's certainly nice to see a friendly face," She chuckled, perking up when her fingers brushed against a little piece of metal. She carefully picked the cat up and looked at the little silver pendant. It was a circle that had apparently been detailed to look like a pumpkin. Jade orbs widened a bit at the sight. "Huh, that's a strange tag for a kitten." She said softly, her eyes barely catching on to an incoming flash of light and suddenly terrorized screams surrounding her. She looked up just in time to see a neon yellow ball of a meteorite collide right into the fountain.

She was sent flying, crashing into the abandoned cupcake stand and passing out from the force of the blow.

When she opened her eyes, however, she was not laying in the rubble of the cart covered in a mix of pastry and icing, but in a pure black area in which she was the only source of light. Her clothes had magically disappeared yet none of her girly bits were specifically revealed and her skin was glowing. "What the Hell?" She yelped, frantically moving to cover herself. Another little spark caught her eye and she turned to see the silhouette of what seemed to be a rabbit with glowing blue eyes.

"Shalt thou choose the path of a warrior? Shalt thou stand against thy enemies and protect ye world from the beings of chaos in its purest form?" A voice whispered in her head, causing her to look around frantically for another source. Who else had shown up, aside from the glow-in-the-dark bunny? She was answered by no one and her eyes trained back in on the fluffy ball of light. "What say ye?" The rabbit's eyes narrowed a touch as the words were spoken, forcing her to accept her fear that this was indeed _**a glowing, telepathic Shakespearean-speaking rabbit**_.

She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "I shall," She said simply, though in her mind she had planned to ask the animal of light what was going on. She clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes widening, as she tried to figure out what that was about. The rabbit's eyes widened a bit before returning to the position previous, which she assumed was meant to seem bored or even regal.

"Then I shall lend you my powers and skills for this task, my mistress," It said before leaping at her. It went through her midriff like a wisp of smoke but she felt a strange rush of energy surge through her, blossoming from the spot the rabbit had fazed through. "I wish nothing but the best of luck to you, my mistress." Were the last words Maka heard before she was swallowed up by darkness for what felt like hours.

When she opened her eyes again, she was staring at a pair of worried red and cheery yellow eyes fixed down at her. She let out a startled scream, threw out her fist, and felt it connect with something. She sat up and blinked, perking up when the cat from before hopped on to her shoulders and curled around her neck like a fluffy purple scarf, her eyes like large golden buttons. "What the Hell was that for?" The familiar baritone of Soul boomed as he glared at her with one hand pressed to his cheek.

The sight of him reminded her of the argument from early and snapped her away from what was left of her dream-like daze. "Why do you care?" She huffed, standing up and blushing at the plop of a cupcake falling from the portion of her dress that covered her rear end. She had a growing suspicion it would be an embarrassing walk home (and she would most likely not be able to effective stomp away from him). She tossed one of her pigtails back over her shoulder, getting bright blue frosting on her fingers, and turned on her heels. "I'll see you around, young Soul Evans." She clipped quickly while starting off on the march home.

"Oh, no you don't! You aren't getting away from me that easily!" He snapped angrily, taking back up the previous chase. This time, however, he was prepared; he grabbed her arm before she had a chance to take off at a full run and begin her game of duck and weave. He turned her around, causing both she and the cat to make startled noises. "Why did you freak out so much on me earlier over that one little comment?"

"Let me go!" She snapped, trying to yank free. If she had a book in her hands she could win this little bout with the greatest of ease but she sadly had nothing with her. She hadn't thought she would need to make use of it, after all.

"Answer my question and I will!" He growled loudly.

"Because we're not going to get to hang out anymore, that's why!"" She snapped, finally breaking free and facing him with a defiant scowl. He blinked, alarmed and confused, while she looked off to the side. Her hands curled into fists at her sides and she looked down. "We're… Not going to be going to the same school anymore so that means we won't really get to see one another. Plus you'll probably get a girlfriend and she'll take up all your free time and you won't have time to hang out and your relationship could go sour if your girlfriend found out time you weren't with her was spent with me and-" He suddenly pressed a finger to her lips, forcing her to look up at him and fall silent.

Her heart skid to a stop as she watched him, his eyes glinting with sincerity and certainty. "Maka, you're my best friend and the only one that really gets me. I'm not going to just ditch you; whether I have a girlfriend or not," He said gently, his hand dropping to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

_**Best friend**_. Oh, yeah, that word stung a little.

However, she had always been a good actress so she smiled and they rescheduled their little dessert trip for tomorrow, after their first day of school.

…

Maka didn't want to think about her first day as she waited for Soul to pick her up for their trip to the new café. That night had ended terribly, with her father freaking out and accusing Soul of "trying to hurt his precious little angel"; Soul has responded by making a remark about how if anyone was abused in he and Maka's relationship it was him. After Maka said she had been knocked over by a group of men playing football her father had settled down. Soul quirked an eyebrow and told her, in a low whisper that Spirit would not hear, that he didn't expect that lie to last long given the crater that meteorite had left in the ground; he pointed out it would probably be all over the news soon enough. Top that off with having absolutely no friends (or even acquaintances) in her classes and the last two days added up to being the worst of her young life.

The only plus was that she now had a pet cat that liked to follow her around. In fact, the fluffy purple ball was curled around her neck at that exact moment.

"Oh, little kitten, you're the only good thing in my life right now," She said with a small sigh, leaning against the brick wall in front of the entrance. She glanced at her watch. She had gotten out of class about twenty minutes ago and she knew Soul got out at the same time. "Shouldn't be too much longer for him to get here. It's about a twenty minute drive." She was saying it more to herself than her newfound feline friend; she was worried he might not even bother showing up.

When another twenty minutes went by, she sighed and pushed off of the wall. "Let's get home, kitten," She said quietly, starting to walk away. She heard a noise behind her and turned, hopeful and smiling, but then she froze. Only one word could be used to describe the thing before her; monster.

It was like a wolf only it was the size of a tiger. Its main features resembled a wolf and it appeared to have the thick auburn coat of one as well. However, it seemed to have an extra row of teeth and all its teeth glinted like tiny blades. A strange, gross green slime was oozing from its jaws and dripping from its light pink tongue. From the base of its neck, along its spine and to the tip of its tail were black points that had red tipping them. At the tip of its tail was a ball made of the red-tipped spikes. What bothered Maka the most, however, was the empty eye sockets that still managed to somehow follow her every move. It let out a low snarl as she started to back away, panic forcing her heart to pick up three more speeds.

"Oh, God, what is that?" She gasped softly, a hand coming to cover her mouth. Her kitten growled lowly, tail fluffing out like a chimney sweeping tool. She took a step back and the beast launched with a shaky, rattling noise that sounded like a mix between a wolf's howl and the screech of nails on a chalk board. Maka grabbed her ears and stumbled back, letting out a loud cry and watching the approaching monster with wide eyes. It was then that familiar light from her strange hallucination returned, although this time it appeared from her forehead.

Light enveloped Maka, somehow blinding the beast and forcing it to stumble back a few paces. She felt a strange surge of power rush through her as the light did whatever it planned to do. She relaxed her body and simply let her body do what was needed, following the steps as if she had always known them. She felt herself twirl in circles while ribbons of the light that were a darker yellow, bordering on orange, wrapped around her. In an explosion of little golden sparkles, they formed into a strange outfit.

The first thing she noticed was that her hair had turned a bright, powdery white but remained in the usual pigtails. Next was that she now had a pair of fluffy white rabbit ears situated atop her head. Finally she turned her attention to the costume itself. It was mostly black, with a piano pattern along certain points. The top was long sleeved and covered her chest well, with the additional help of a large white bow. It went to the space a few centimeters below her breasts before it stopped, revealing quite a bit of her midriff with the ends of the bow adding very little coverage. Right at her hips was where the skirt started up, and it reached to about her knees. The cuffs of her blouse as well as the entire skirt held the piano pattern, appearing as the keys of said instrument were. She had leggings that went with that were also piano patterned. The last two things she noticed were the black dress shoes and little cotton tail she just noticed sticking out from a slit she couldn't see in the skirt.

The monster let out another noise while Maka let out a startled noise and shifted to run. "You have to stand and fight, Maka," A voice said. She looked to see her kitten was watching the beast intently before her gold eyes shifted to the teen girl. "Your powers have been given to you for a reason. You must use them against beasts like this one nyah!" Maka swore she had to have developed a concussion because _**her cat was talking to her**_.

"What the Hell are you talking about?" She yelped, jumping aside just as the wolf-creature aimed to bring its paw down upon her.

"The White Rabbit spoke to you, didn't he? Your hair color changing to white, your eyes turning blue and this whole transformation is the evidence of that nyah!" The cat called back as Maka continued hopping away from her attacker, whom seemed to suddenly forget whatever reasoning he had against attacking her in the first place.

"You mean the rabbit I saw in that crazy dream I had after what happened at the park?" She asked, glancing at the cat. It was just long enough for her opponent to backhand her to the left, causing her to crash into the ground roughly. The cat had jumped off at the right time and now darted back to her side, watching as Maka recollected herself.

"Yes, that was the White Rabbit. Look, this is no time to explain the whole origin of what's going on. For now, you need to call to the power of The Musician and take that monster out nyah!" Her cat ordered while the wolf let out yet another howl. It shook its head and let out a wheezing noise, as if it were laughing at the situation. "My name is Blair, by the way."

"Okay then, Blair," Maka said while swallowing hard, "what the Hell am I supposed to be doing now? How do I tap into this power you keep talking about?"

"You have to think about the attribute of your power; so, basically, think about a piano," Blair said, watching the beast as it started slowly walking toward them. She glanced at Maka, whom had closed her eyes as she thought about the piano. "Now, if a piano was to be compared to a weapon, think about what it reminds you of the most."

Maka's mind flashed through several memories of sitting with Soul on the bench of his piano. He would play a piece while she would read a book and, though she rarely knew what inspired the song he was playing, she would just enjoy it. They would grin at each other at the end of a chapter or the end of a song, just enjoying the other's energy. She called that sense of security, sense of ease being able to be herself, to the front of her mind and forced it into the form of something that could be used in defense or offense.

When she opened her eyes the ribbon of her blouse had started to glow and unknotted, falling to her grasp. Once her hands tightened on it, it took the shape of a large scythe. The main pole was a bright silvery-gray that glinted in the afternoon light. At the notch where the blade broke out from the staff portion was a red oval designed to look like an eye, and a small bar with three holes in it on the opposite end of the eye as the blade. The blade was decorated in red and black like a row of sharp, pointed teeth. "Impressive," Blair beamed from the sidelines as the wolf jumped again.

Maka, however, was prepared this time around. She held the staff of the scythe up to block its paw before pushing up, sending the beast back on its hind legs. She twisted the blade in her hands and brought it into the creature's tender, exposed underbelly. It shrieked in pain but she ignored the noise and focused on ending it. A current of energy rushed through her to the blade and, she wasn't sure why, she declared, "Keyboard Clash!" She pulled the blade the rest of the way through and the creature split in half. Before the two halves could fall to the ground, they disintegrated into grey smoke and floated away with a breeze.

Maka watched before the golden light returned and she was herself again. She looked herself over, smiling when she found herself against a fiery blonde in her school uniform, and turned to the smiling cat at her feet. "Wonderful display for a rookie, such as yourself nyah~!" Blair announced as she hopped onto Maka's shoulder. The green eyed maiden calmly plucked the cat off and looked at her with an evil grin and matching glint to her eyes. "Nyah?" She asked nervously.

"I think it's time you answer my questions, what with that monster being gone now," Maka said with a low chuckle. Blair's ears flattened against her head in fear of what was to come. "Like, for starters, **how is it you can talk**?"

End

Notes:

Oh, yes, I'm totally going to enjoy this. And I mean more than I should. Like, so much it _**hurts**_. I want to make this clear; I _**love**_ the magical girl genre (grew up on Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Tokyo Mew Mew) so I do this out of love. :3

And, I need to point this out, but ever notice how characters in anime get thrown in to shit _**all the time**_ in yet _**rarely **_have a mark on them? Also, ever notice how the girls in these shows typically just say "Okay, sure! I'll endanger my life on a regular basis and listen to these talking animals!" I swear, there _**has**_ to be a special toxin released that _**forces**_ them to agree. :T

Consider Blair to be a strange cross between Luna from Sailor Moon, Kero from Cardcaptor Sakura and Ryou from Tokyo Mew Mew; she'll be the group sage (or, rather, as close to a sage as Blair can get) as Luna was for the Sailor Scouts, she will occasionally be able to tap into her own powers to help while the girls improve like Kero, while having the ability to change between cat and human pretty much at will as Ryou from Tokyo Mew Mew could (if you're going by the comics, that is. After 4kids shafted the English dub as bad as they did I decided against watching the anime so I don't know if he can do that still.)

Last little note, please check out my little update on my profile. I've made some decisions in regards to future projects and I want to keep you all informed. :3

Next Chapter:

The S. is setting sail so get your tickets ready, ladies and gents~! Maka and Blair have a conversation about the other three meteorites and the task of Maka having to track down a few more teammates to help her. I prove that I really did put forth some effort in developing this as a plot not completely centered on shameless fan service.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter Two: Evil Creatures from Space Cliché

"Well, you see," Blair started as Maka unlocked the door to the house. Spirit would still be at work so the girls would have some time to talk openly before his return. The young blonde had decided it would be better that she hold off on her questions until after they returned, since she didn't need anyone thinking she was crazy for talking to a cat in public. "Bu-Tan here is a member of a special organization known simply as the Intergalactic Police Brigade."

"Intergalactic Police Brigade?" Maka parroted, pushing open the door and watching Blair hop off her shoulder. The other yawned and stretched while trotting off to the kitchen. Maka shut and locked the door before following, alarmed when instead of a cat a very… ample figured woman settled down at her kitchen table. The woman was clad in an all black dress that had a turtle neck and revealed her shoulders. There were long black strands of fabric that went around her arms and trailed down, tucking the linoleum flooring of the kitchen. She had on a black hat that matched, resembling a witch's hat, and matching thigh-high boots. There was a silver medallion attached in the shape of a pumpkin.

"Yeah. We stop space criminals," She explained merrily. Maka set to preparing some tea for the two of them. "Anyway, one of the top outlaws that I was pursuing transported her team and herself to this planet. Now, Earth and the galaxy it is in typically don't get much attention because there isn't anything here to be attracted to. You earthlings haven't reached the degree of technology other galaxies have so the thought of any of you making it to another galaxy is unheard of. Plus, it's really peaceful here compared to the rest of the galaxy so there was no need for us to interfere until the criminal I was chasing came here. But I realized I wouldn't be able to deal with Medusa's mutants on my own so I used my powers as an investigator to create a team of rookies to work with me. While you and your teammates take out Medusa's underlings, I'll be tracking her down to take her out."

"So this space criminal's name is Medusa? What is she guilty of?" The green eyed girl asked as she sat down next to the cat. The water was probably going to take a little time to boil, anyway, so she may as well get a little more comfortable.

"Medusa was illegally experimenting on other life forms so we had her arrested. However, her little cult broke her out and they fled here," Blair said, looking down and shaking her head. She picked an apple up from the fruit bowl at the center of table and started batting it like a ball between her hands. Blair could get so bored talking business without something to distract her. "Normally I wouldn't have a problem tracking her down but she's taken on a form like the two I've been using and living through that. She's hidden both herself and her base well and already resumed her crazy tests. That monster that attacked us today was just a small taste of the chaos she aims to bring down. I assume she wants to make Earth her newest Petri dish so it'll be up to us to stop her."

The whistle of the kettle caught Maka's attention. She returned to the kitchen briefly, prepared the cups of green tea, and then returned. "So why don't you call in for more reinforcements, rather than dragging me – who had no idea what was going on until you explained - into the whole thing?" Maka asked simply, blowing on her mug lightly.

"Bu-Tan didn't come alone; I came with three other agents older than myself nyah," She said simply, leaning down and lapping up a bit of tea like a cat. Maka resisted the urge to comment on the rather… bizarre way the other seemed to adopt the persona of a cat. Blair licked her chops and smiled. "Bu-Tan created you with permission from my higher ups. They're orbiting the planet in a space ship, hoping to detect Medusa using the equipment we have there. They were able to track her down to this city and so I came here to investigate. I sensed out four individuals whom had the potential to become rookie officers and had them drop the meteorites carrying your powers near your locations."

"So there are other girls like me?" Maka asked after a sip of her tea, eyes lighting up in hope. Was it really possible that she wasn't going to be forced to suffer alone through all of this?

"That's right, but I don't think their powers have awakened yet nyah," The purple haired woman stated lightly. She pointed to her new charge. "That monster came after us because it must have been programmed with the knowledge of my scent. As we know Medusa is here, she must also know that we're here. Your powers blossomed then because I was there to give you a push."

"So basically everything that has happened these last two days has been all your fault?" Maka asked suspiciously, watching the other with narrowed eyes. Blair's eye twitched and she turned back into a cat in a puff of white smoke. She hopped on to the table and mewled cutely. This only made the glare that much worse. "You're not being cute, you know!"

Blair started to pout at this, tail flicking with her discontent. "Hey, just because you're mad that your cutie pie didn't show up doesn't mean you should take it out on Bu-Tan!" She tutted, waving a paw at the younger woman. Jade orbs widened before narrowing again, turning now to her backpack. She rummaged through, yanked out her phone, and checked it.

No missed calls. One text from her Papa, telling her he'd be home from work late tonight.

"Soul, you stupid jerk!" She snapped while swiping up her bag and heading for the living room. She was grumbling and stomping the whole way.

'_That was a close call,'_ Blair sighed to herself. She had almost been in for quite a fight with her new apprentice but, again, she was as clever as a cat. She finished lapping up her tea before turning her gaze to Maka's now chilled cup. She hopped from the table and headed to the living room, where Maka was at.

The young blonde was seated at the coffee table doing her homework with the news flashing by on the television screen. It was clear the young woman was more interested in working on her assignments for the evening and simply had it on for the background noise. "Maka, I need to go report back to my superiors and work out a plan with them, okay?" She asked, walking over and rubbing against the other's elbow.

Maka sighed lightly, but smiled and lightly scratched behind the other's ear. She found it funny when the other started to purr. "Yeah, okay. I'm going to do my homework real fast and then I'll get to work on dinner. Anything you want in specific?" She asked curiously.

"Anything with meat or fish will do fine for Bu-Tan~!" The other mused before walking down the hall, tail high in her joy. Though Maka was loathe to admit it, she had a hard time staying made at her new friend when she was in her fluffier form. She had always had a weak spot for the adorable and tiny creatures on the Earth.

Soul always said that taking her to a petting zoo or pet shop was always the best way he could get her to stop ignoring him when she was mad at him.

At the thought of him, however, she scowled and turned back to rushing through her homework. She was just finishing up her math assignment when she glanced up at the screen. "This is Suzie, your average six year old little girl. But there's one big difference; unlike most girls her age, Suzie isn't happy," The broadcaster stated, kneeling beside a little girl with inky hair. The girl's eyes were rimmed red and she was sniffling. "You see, several nights ago, Suzie's pet dog, Fritz, was stolen from her home."

Maka blinked a few times, tilting her head at the screen questioningly. _'Really? A stolen dog is sad, and all, but I didn't think it deserved media coverage like this. Maybe the little girl has a terminal illness or something,'_ Maka thought before putting her math supplies away. She was just getting ready to finish putting her things away when she glanced up to see the picture of the dog they showed.

She realized then that the dog looked like a non-deformed version of the beast she had killed less than an hour ago.

"Not only that, but two more animals were stolen the same night as Suzie's precious Fritz," The announcer said. He held up his hand where a small caption screen appeared, showing police tape up around an exhibit at the zoo. "Ramon, the regal tiger, and Cathie, the pregnant alligator, were also taken. Both security cameras and security guards were taken out before the animals were taken and no evidence was left behind."

"Oh, my God," Maka gasped, a hand clamping over her mouth. Now she could see it, how that monster got to be that size. Medusa liked to do experiments. Those animals went missing. That poor mutation she had fought earlier was the stitched together remnants of the three separate animals after being through God knows what!

"Please, if the person who took Fritz is watching, bring him home," Suzie sniffled, looking into the camera with those big doe eyes. Maka could feel her own eyes welling up with tears. "Fritz is my only friend in the whole wide world and I love him so much! Please, bring him home and you won't get into any trouble!" The girl now fell into the sobs, the newscaster wrapping an arm around her to try and soothe her.

"Oh, God! I killed Fritz! I'm so sorry Suzie!" Maka wailed, flinging her face into her arms on the coffee table. She was too emotional to notice her phone buzzing to life with a call from Soul.

Blair's ears flattened to her skull and she winced when she caught wind of the ruckus Maka was making. Her medallion was actually a communicator that changed forms and, currently, was in its video chat mode. It was about the size of your average computer monitor, but was as thin as an iPad. The screen was alive to show her three superior officers looking at her in curiosity.

"Blair, what was that?" One of them asked in a clipped, no non-sense tone.

"Is that… Your first charge?" Another asked, much meeker and just a touch surprised.

"Ah, yes, that is Maka, my first charge," Blair laughed nervously, looking down at her paws. Of all the times for the younger girl to act like a weirdo, it had to be while she was on the phone with her bosses, wasn't it? And to think she had told Maka what she was doing completely in hopes the other would keep her activities at a dull roar too! "She's a very delicate soul and, as such, been attached with the powers of the White Rabbit. It's a good fit, don't you think?" She laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head with one paw lightly.

"Blair, this is serious!" The first speaker snapped angrily. She flinched at this, ears flattening to her skull again. She looked up, crestfallen, at the speaker. "Medusa is running amuck on that planet and you need to make sure the new recruits you've created are able to handle it! Are you even sure she can stand combat, if she can carry on like that?"

"Oh, yes! Maka fought her first of Medusa's newest batch of mutations and killed it with one blow nyah!" She said eagerly, hopeful to please her leaders.

"See to it she keeps her head on straight, then. Don't let her emotions lead her around blindly, track down the rest of your team, and get to work on tracking that damn snake in the grass down as quickly as you can. Am I understood?" The other asked strictly.

"Yes, ma'am," Blair said sadly, looking off to the side.

"Good," The other scoffed before walking away. The second to speak lightly waved her hand into the screen, getting golden eyes back on her.

She was smiling warmly. "Don't let her get you down, Blair; we all know you're going to make us proud!" She beamed. The other's pointed ears perked right back up and her eyes brightened considerably at the praise. "You know she's just really worried about how things will go. I am sure you remember what happened last time Medusa was left without being stopped right away."

"All too well nyah," She shuddered and the other giggled.

"We need to make sure to avoid another crisis like that one but also don't pressure yourselves too much, okay? If you do your performance will start to lack and you won't accomplish anything," The chipper voice explained warmly. Blair smiled and nodded excitedly. "For now, do and learn what you can. Get your new recruits rounded up and trained. Also, make sure to check in with us whenever you find the free time to, okay? We want to make sure we can offer you any assistance you may need."

"Thank you, ma'am," Blair said, sincerely touched by the other's kind words. It always went like this when she talked to her commanders about something touchy or time sensitive. "Do you have anything to add, Captain?" She asked, looking to the third figure, whom had remained silent the whole time.

A hand was waved in a circle, indicating to end the communication.

"I guess that's all then. Make sure to call us again as soon as you get another teammate, so as to update us on their information for the computers," The other commander stated simply.

"Of course nyah~!" Blair agreed, saluting them merrily. The gesture was returned before the screen went blank. The little cat sighed and pressed the center of the screen, causing it to return to its fun-sized mode. She clipped it back onto her collar and bowed her head in deep concern. "What has Bu-Tan gotten into, agreeing to a mission like this one nyah?" She whimpered to herself weakly.

End

Notes:

Let me just say: thank you all so much for the love I've received in regards to this story~! I was a little worried that this story wouldn't do well but looks like everyone loves a little nostalgia bomb, huh? *Blushes and giggles like a lovestruck schoolgirl* I really love knowing that this is looking so good so far! But I am sorry this chapter was so short; I just needed to get some exposition out of the way.

I had to put in that little scene with Maka and the news for one reason; comedy. This chapter was really dull and I wanted to try and do something to get some chuckles while moving the plot along.

Also, yes or no on lemons for this story? Please punch in your opinion on my poll, if you all wouldn't mind too terribly. :3

Next Chapter:

Maka starts in on her training and finally locates her first teammate. More about Medusa's scientific process is revealed, though it makes little sense to the poor rookie officers. Blair proves that birds, rabbits and cats really can get along with one another!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter Three: That First Teammate Cliché

Maka yawned and stretched as she slipped out from under the covers. It had been about two weeks since Blair had started training her to fight the evil intergalactic criminal Medusa and her little creations, and still they hadn't located her next teammate. Last night, she and Blair had tried unsuccessfully to brainstorm a way to track them down. Without their powers activated, Blair was unable to track them down using one of her devices that tracked onto an awakened agent's mental activity. This morning, however, a thought had struck Maka. "Hey, Blair, do you remember where the other three meteorites' landed, by chance?" She asked, leaning over and lightly tapping the curled up ball of indigo fluff lightly.

"I can't say for certain," She said with mild annoyance, "but I should have the coordinates programmed into my communicator. Why do you ask?" Golden eyes glinting curiously as she stretched out. Apparently the news of Maka's suggestion made her forget about being woken up earlier than she would've liked.

"Why don't we try going to those locations and see if any people nearby saw what happened when the meteorites' landed?" She asked happily. Her fluffy friend hopped up from her current position and grinned widely.

"That is a wonderful idea, nyah!" Her tail swished excitedly. The ashy haired girl knew that her new friend was feeling pressured by her superior officers. She was also grateful she didn't have class or other plans for the afternoon. It would be a lot better for them to dedicate their time to finding their second teammate before Medusa did. "Let's have some breakfast and then get started! We do not have much time and I want to try and get some training today as well."

After getting dressed, a quick breakfast and making sure her Papa was okay on the couch, the duo headed out to start the day.

"Blair, what are the closest coordinates to the house?" Maka asked while checking the time on her phone. It was only a quarter past nine and she was certain that most people would be out starting the day. She figured they would be better off trying to talk to as many people before it got busy as they could. Weekends in Death City were typically dedicated to running errands and visiting with loved ones.

"I'll need a minute to load up the data from my communicator. Hold on," The little cat hopped down from the teen girl's shoulder and lightly tugged the silver charm from her collar. It was at that moment Maka's cell phone began to buzz.

"Oh great," She mumbled after a quick glance at the screen. Ever since he stood her up two weeks ago Maka had been ignoring all the calls and text messages that Soul sent. Not only was it because she was angry but she was also a very busy girl, what with the training and monster slaying and whatnot. It was the longest time since they became friends that she refused to talk to him.

"Is that your boyfriend again?" Blair asked with obvious interest. Her eyes twinkled mischievously at the pink dust that sprinkled along the younger girl's cheeks at her words. "You should really let him out of the doghouse. Or, you know, at least let him **try** to make it up to you."

Jade orbs darkened in anger. "He is not my boyfriend. In fact, he is not interested in me like that and has made it very clear," She grumbled, though her voice did betray a touch of the pain she felt. She didn't like admitting out loud that Soul was the object of her unrequited love. And she liked admitting it to Blair, whom was hit on by all men they saw when she was in her human form, even less. After all, how could her busty new chum relate to her troubles?

"Boyfriend or not," The other chided gently, "you should still hear him out. You still want to be friends with him, don't you?"

"I will deal with him on my own time and when I'm ready. I have more important things to worry about than him telling me to get over it," She scoffed while shoving her phone back in her pocket. She then glanced at the little hologram of the town floating above her partner's medallion. There were three flashing pink dots. "Are those the locations of where the other three landed?"

She was answered by a nod. "Yup. See that little yellow dot on the map? That's our current location," She stated proudly, looking up at Maka eagerly. "So which one is the closest for us to get to?"

"It looks like one of them landed over by the elementary school," Maka remarked thoughtfully. She leaned closer and looked at where the others had landed. She could already tell she was right about one of them being by the elementary school but what bothered her was that the two other dots looked like they had landed even closer to one another. In fact, it looked like they may actually overlap a little bit. "That's a little strange."

"Nyah? What is it?" Blair asked, leaning closer to the map to try and see what her apprentice saw. Maka then shook her head and sighed.

"It was nothing," She said dismissively. Perhaps the other two were childhood friends? Or maybe even boyfriend and girlfriend? After all, Blair had never said that the team would be formed by only girls at any given time. She had simply said that the other three would have the capability to be agents, just like Maka. Although, she sort of hoped that was not the case.

Having to work with a happy couple would make her feel worse about her own romantic situation.

"Bu-tan thinks that it wasn't nothing," The other pushed while placing the medallion back on her collar. She then hopped back on to her perch on the other girl's shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything, right? I'm here to help you in any way that I can nyah." She said while rubbing her cheek against Maka's. She started to purr and managed to turn the other's scowl into a gentle smile.

"I know. I just don't want us wasting our time when Medusa's still out there wrecking havoc," She said while scratching under the fluff ball's chin. She grinned at how the other's eyes fluttered close. "I can deal with my problems at a more appropriate time. For now, let's focus on figuring out what happened over by the elementary school."

…

After two hours of talking to anyone who would stop and listen, Maka was a touch annoyed. Nobody would answer questions with actual information that pertained to the incident or the person whom was closest. All they did was complain about how now there was a crater over on the playground to the school. The duo had not wanted to actually go to the school but it seemed that was the only option. Besides, perhaps the kids playing at the park would be more willing to offer the answers they need.

Maka was horrified when she looked over to the basketball courts and spotted none other than Soul Evans with two other people she didn't recognize. It was only made worse when the snowy haired boy turned and locked eyes on her as she turned to run. "Maka!" He called, rushing after her.

She had tried her best, but he caught up to her at an alarming rate. Never before had she seen him run so fast, or grab her so tightly. When she looked, ruby orbs were wide and filled with concern. She felt her heart start hammering even harder in her chest than it had in days. "What do you want?" She asked in a tone that sounded as put off by his actions as she had wanted. She would have smirked in victory if not for the fact that she would have to break her poker face.

"I've been trying to reach you for two weeks. Or hadn't you noticed?" His voice rose in level and was colored with frustration with her lack of interest. She sent him a harsh glare, looking around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. His eyes narrowed a touch but he lowered his voice again. "I've been calling and texting you at least seven times a day. And how did you know I would be here?"

"Don't flatter yourself," She scoffed while yanking her arm from his grasp. Blair meowed as if to warn Maka to stay calm. She was ignored. "I came here to do some research on the other meteorites' that landed in the city forever ago."

His face fell and he glanced toward the ground. He then looked back up at her hopefully. "Maybe I can help then. My friends over there were actually here when that huge rock came crashing down," He stated calmly. Gold and green locked for a minute before Maka turned her attention back to Soul.

"Really?" She asked skeptically.

"Really," He said while tilting his head toward the other two figures, "and I can introduce you right now, if that's cool with you."

Maka thought about for a moment. This was a great opportunity to figure out who would be her new teammate. On the other hand, would accepting his help make Soul think that he was back in her good graces already? She was a girl who could hold a grudge better than any malevolent spirit. Years after her parents split up and she still held it over her father's head like the papers had just been filed that day. And for her Soul cutting her out and forgetting about her so easily felt like a blade to her heart. He was the only man she trusted and yet he'd been letting her down.

But was it possible that Blair had a point? After all, hadn't she been refusing to let him make it up to her? Wasn't she the one cutting him out now? With a small sigh, she knew she was going to have to surrender and let her pride take a blow. "I would appreciate that. Thanks," She said but did not meet his gaze. She heard him chuckle and glared. "But after this, you and I are going to talk about the stunt you pulled that even led to you being ignored for two weeks."

"Trust me; that's all I've wanted for a while," Crimson eyes glittered with an emotion she could not quite read. All that she knew was that it was making her stomach do weird twists and turns. She ignored the sensation and turned to head toward his friends.

"Are you coming or not? I don't have all day," She said without looking at him. She heard him chuckle but decided to deal with that later. The mission she and Blair had set out on was much more important.

As they walked over to the other two teens, Maka took the chance to size them up. She eyed the boys first startled by his spiky sky-blue locks. He was just a touch shorter than Soul, meaning he would be just about eye level with her. When he turned to face her she noticed that his eyes were a green hue just a touch lighter than her own. What attracted her attention was that his pupils were shaped like stars. _'Is that the side effect of his power?'_ She wondered as they got closer. She then turned her attention to his female companion.

The girl was actually taller than Soul, which she found surprising. It wasn't that her friend was exceedingly tall, given that she herself was only a little bit shorter than him, but she was not used to the height difference. Her skin was a pale ivory that is complimented while by sapphire eyes and inky black hair. What bothered Maka the most was the hourglass shape that was accented by the other girl's T-shirt and hip hugging jeans. _'No wonder Soul would rather spend his time with them,'_ Maka thought glumly, _'this girl looks like a model! There's no way a flat-chested bookworm like me could compete.'_

"Maka, allow me to introduce you to my friends," Soul stated calmly, gesturing first to the male. He looked at Maka with a raised eyebrow, sizing her up as well apparently. "This is Black*Star. He can play a mean set of drums. And this is Tsubaki, a very talented flutist whom is at the top of the class."

"Oh, you're giving me far too much credit," The girl said meekly with a blush and smile. For a moment, the blonde haired girl wished she could slap that smile right off the other's face. She only resisted because she knew it wouldn't be fair to lash out at her like that; after all, Tsubaki wasn't necessarily flirting with Soul or anything.

"So you go to school with him then?" Maka asked in a voice she hoped sounded kind. Black*Star suddenly started laughing loudly and pointed at her, earning him a questioning look.

"So you're the infamous Maka we've heard so much about? You aren't anything to be afraid of!" The young drummer laughed without dropping his finger. Soul flinched a bit while Maka smiled in a sickeningly sweet way. Tsubaki looked uncomfortable with the whole thing.

"Maka… Chop!" The fiery blonde declared before bringing a large novel down upon the head of her mocker. Ruby orbs sparkled wistfully at the gesture.

"Congrats, Black*Star," He announced lightly, "that means she likes you." He then grinned at Tsubaki, whom looked horrified by the amount of blood squirting from the male's head where the book had made contact. "And don't worry about him; it always looks worse than it actually is. I have spent many a year receiving Maka-Chops, so trust me on it."

"Anyway," Maka drawled with a huff. The book had magically disappeared just as abruptly as it had appeared at the start. "Can we get back to the main point?"

"Oh, sure thing," Soul said. He nudged the unconscious male with the toe of his sneaker. "Hey, great God among men, my friend needs to ask you two some questions about when that meteor landed here two weeks ago."

The other girl suddenly perked up and glanced at Maka. "We were actually here when the meteor landed. What do you need to know?"

Maka smiled at the prospect of finally getting some answers. "I was wondering if there is anybody who was very close to it when it landed? Close enough to, let's say, have been knocked over by the force of the impact?" She made sure her words sounded like someone who was casually interested in one thing. She didn't want to rouse suspicion.

"That would be me," Tsubaki answered while pointing at herself. She let out a nervous chuckle. "We were here playing one-on-one basketball and I went to fetch the ball when it got away from us. And that was when the meteor hit the ground and knocked me back quite a bit."

"Really?" Maka asked in alarm. She could have sworn it would have been Black*Star, what with his strange pupils. Then again, she herself showed no outward signs of the side effects of her new powers. With how polite and soft-spoken the other teen girl was, however, she did not seem like intergalactic police material.

The other nodded and smiled. "Why are you so interested in the meteor anyway? School project or something?" She asked.

She was answered by a nervous chuckle and a quick glance at the indigo cat perched on Maka's shoulder. "Yeah, something like that. Is there any way that I can talk with you about it in private real fast?" She asked politely.

"I don't see why not," She said with a shrug. She then glanced over at the two boys she'd come with. "Will you two be all right for a few minutes?"

Soul scowled with a hint of suspicion in his eyes. "Yeah, but I don't see-"He was cut off when Maka grabbed Tsubaki's arm and led here away, to a place where the boys could not hear or see them; behind the building that housed the restrooms. "Okay, yeah, that's cool. Go right on ahead and keep ignoring me."

Once she was sure they were out of earshot and could not be seen, Maka glanced up at Blair. "So do you want to explain everything or should I?" She asked calmly.

"Um… Maka, why are you talking to your cat?" The other asked with confusion, taking a step back. Blair suddenly hopped the short distance from Maka's shoulder to Tsubaki's and started lightly sniffing her. She squeaked and giggled loudly. "S-Stop that, kitty! That tickles!"

"She smells like the meteorite nyah~!" Blair announced suddenly, earning another alarmed squeak from the girl. The cat had really just spoken, hadn't she? Oh, dear, this was getting a little strange for her tastes. "Hey, girl, when that meteorite knocked you down did you see anything? Perhaps an animal made of light talking to you?"

The other perked up, temporarily forgetting the confusion she'd been feeling. "Ah, yes, actually. It was a bird with brown eyes. And its body seemed to be made of a bright, glowing red light of some sort," She trailed thoughtfully.

"So it was the Scarlet Bird that spoke to you," Blair said with a bright smile. She then pointed at Maka with one of her forepaws. "Maka here is the carrier of the will of the White Rabbit. From now on, we will all be working together nyah~!"

"What do-?" Tsubaki started to ask when they heard terrified cries and a vicious roar. The three rushed out from their hiding spot to be greeted by another one of Medusa's little pets. This one had the body of a salamander though it was the size of a horse, but had the tusks of an elephant. The last feature Maka noticed from a fourth animal was that it had the front legs of a lion and, with it, the long claws. She immediately focused on its target; Black*Star and a little girl he had placed himself in front of. A few feet away lay an unconscious Soul.

"Maka, transform!" Blair said quickly. The other nodded before closing her eyes and forcing forward the light that would cause her to change. She felt the light weave her clothes into their new form, adding the ears and felt her little tail twitch as it was created by the magic. As soon as her change was complete she opened her eyes to see Black*Star being flung into the air by the wild beast.

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki cried out, rushing toward him. It was then Maka noticed a faint glow coming from the other's shoulder. In the blink of an eye, the faint glow grew into a shimmering garnet light the encircled the other. Maka winced a bit, the beast let out an alarmed cry and Blair let out an excited squeal. She heard a fluttering and when she opened her eyes again, Tsubaki was floating above the ground with her arms woven around Black*Star's waist, keeping him from plummeting to the earth. It was thanks to the large, red wings the other now sported that it was possible.

"You're flying!" Maka gasped in surprise. Tsubaki perked up, glanced at herself, and then let out a startled squeal at the sight of herself. Was this really happening? And how was she flying? She didn't know anything about flying!

And then she started to plummet toward the ground.

"Eek! Focus, focus! Think about how it looks when a bird flaps their wings and you'll be able to imitate the action again!" Blair cried out quickly, flailing her paws in the air. She and Maka watched as Tsubaki shifted her body awkwardly, glancing at her wings, then closed her eyes tightly and willing them to move. It was less fluid than that first burst that had been inspired by her desire to save Black*Star, but it was still steady enough to help her reach the ground in one piece.

Maka rushed over to greet the other as she slowly touched back down on the ground, setting the now comatose young man down gently. Though her hair was still up in a ponytail, the color had changed to an aquamarine color that matched identically with Black*Star's. Her eyes had also changed from their bright blue to a rich chocolate tint. Her outfit was that of a strapless dress that hugged her torso tight, to assure nothing fell out in battle, with a ruffled skirt that went about halfway down her thigh. The whole thing was the same color as the wings and long, flowing tail of feathers she had received aside for one golden ribbon that wrapped around her midriff and formed a large bow on her right hip. The outfit was finished off with little ruby heels with golden star buckles on them. "Welcome to the team," Maka said with a bright grin.

"Oh, my gosh!" Tsubaki gasped while twirling in a few circles and looking at herself. Now that she wasn't plummeting head first toward the ground she could more accurately assess her appearance. "Is… Is this really me?" She asked, stopping and staring at Blair and Maka.

"It really is. It's the appearance the Scarlet Bird gave you to keep your true identity a mystery," The little fuzz ball explained calmly. Her ears jolted up and her tail fluffed out when the creature suddenly released a cry similar to that of a T-Rex in movies. "Anyway, let's see how well you can manage. Your ability stems from the gift of The Athlete, so think about a sport you're really good at. Then, imagine a piece of equipment from that sport in the form of a weapon. Does that make sense?" She asked as she hopped back onto Maka's shoulder.

Tsubaki looked unsure but nodded. "Don't worry; if anything goes wrong, I'll have your back," Maka said cheerfully, grinning brightly at her new teammate. The other nodded before stepping forward a bit, facing the snarling mutation slowly crouching toward her.

She closed her eyes for a moment, her mind reeling, before the golden ribbon on her costume started to glow. The other two watched in amazement as it took the form of a long, slim black katana in her hands. "Home-Run Slash!" She declared, rushing forward and embedding her blade right into the beast's throat. She used a few quick flaps of her wings to glide along the ground underneath it, effectively ripping it in half. Much like Maka's first battle, it disappeared in a plume of grey smoke.

Blair suddenly lunged from Maka's shoulder, transformed back into her human form and darted over as a small shimmering object started to drop from the disappearing fog. "Got it!" She cheered excitedly, holding it up. It appeared to be a small, golden ball the size of a thimble.

"What is that?" Tsubaki asked Maka as they approached her. The other shrugged.

"Don't know. It didn't appear at the end of my first fight," She explained calmly.

"It's a hint to where Medusa's base is at," The golden eyed woman said with a bright grin. She flicked it into the air and then caught it back in her palm. "She uses gold to help the creatures keep their form. You may not know this, but gold can be used for a lot of useful things to those of us in other galaxies. I'll explain more later on."

There was suddenly an excited squeal and the three turned to see the little girl running over. Her eyes were wide and shining with excitement. "That… was… so… cool!" She gushed happily. Maka smiled then perked up when she noticed Soul and Black*Star starting to get back up. She started to take a step back, planning to head for the hills, when the little girl grabbed her hand and forced her attention back to her. "Who are you?"

"We're… Uh," She trailed nervously. Soul was starting to stand and his eyes were transfixed on her, wide and curious. She resisted the urge to blush at the intensity of the stare and looked back down at the younger girl.

"We are the Death City Divas, protectors of the innocent and helpless!" Blair declared bravely. Both girls gawked at her in alarm. "These two are Pallid Usagi (1) and Scarlet Tori (2). I am Bu-Tan, their attractive leader nyah~!"

The only sound that could be heard for a little while after that was the little girl's excited giggles.

Maka lightly cleared her throat suddenly and knelt down in front of the small child. "Now, I hate to have to, but we need to get going and make sure there isn't any more trouble in town. You should go back to your parents; they're probably worried sick about you," She said gently, smiling and ruffling the little girl's hair.

"Okay! Bye!" She cheered, waving as she darted away. Maka then glanced at the two teen boys. Luckily enough, Black*Star was too busy trying to figure out where Tsubaki went to notice the magical girls standing a few feet away.

"Are you really? Crusaders for justice, I mean?" Soul asked as he walked toward her. She took a step back and flashed him a coy smile.

"What reason do I have to lie, Soul?" She asked lightly. His eyes widened and she realized her mistake; she had called him by his name!

"How do you-?" He closed his eyes when a sudden whirlwind picked up around them, leaving both he and Black*Star dazed. It lasted just long enough so that the trio could make their hasty escape.

"Thanks, Blair," Maka sighed as she powered down. The young woman had teleported them to the nearby women's restrooms. Tsubaki was splashing cold water on her face and looking at her reflection, still a little stunned by the whole ordeal. "That was a really close call with that little girl."

The other smiled at her, changing back to her feline form, her tail flicking with amusement. "Yes, it was, yet you handled yourselves pretty well. But that's also why Bu-Tan is here, after all; to make sure you rookies don't get us found out," She said merrily. She then hopped up onto the sink and fixed her happy gaze on the darker haired woman. "Welcome to the team, Tsubaki. I can already tell that you're going to do great!"

"Thanks," She sighed sadly, looking down at her hands. Maka knew how the other felt; while having these powers was an incredible thing she already knew what Tsubaki was mulling over. Since they couldn't have people they knew knowing who they were, they would have to lie to those dear to them. After all, Maka had already had to lie to that little girl (and, technically Soul and Black*Star, since the two of them had been present). "Well, at least I won't be trying to do all this on my own." She said suddenly, turning to smile at Maka. She then held out her hand to the other. "I look forward to working with you, Maka." She said happily. Vert orbs glinted in surprise before softening in understanding and warmth. She took the other's hand tightly in her own.

"And I look forward to working with you, Tsubaki. Together, I know we'll be able to track down our other two teammates and take Medusa down!"

Blair watched with a bright smile, her tail wrapping around her paws in delight.

…

"So that was why you didn't show up," Maka mumbled softly, glancing down at her hands. It was sunset, and she and Soul were sitting on a hill at the park together. Tsubaki and Black*Star were enjoying a round of one-on-one while these two figured everything out. Blair was watching them (since Maka had shooed her away every time she tried to follow her, the nosy little cat).

"I can't argue with my parents. They've been all kinds of weird since… Well, you know," He sighed lightly, glancing at her sideways. She nodded then poked him in the chest lightly.

"But you still owe me, buster!" She huffed lightly.

He laughed. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure that I can make time between school, study and all my private tutoring shit," He said casually. Jade orbs widened a bit then darkened and fixated on a ladybug walking about on Maka's knee.

"I didn't realize you had so much stuff to do, now that you're attending a music academy," She grumbled lightly.

And that was when he gave one of her pigtails a sharp tug, eliciting a pained cry from her. "Hey now, don't get that way! Just because we have different things going on doesn't mean we won't see each other!" He said sternly. He flashed her his usual heart-melting grin, trying to chase away her gloomy look. "I told you, Maka; you're my best friend and I'll always make time for you."

"Right. Thanks, Soul," She said, forcing on a small smile for him.

End

(1) Pallid Usagi – The word "pallid" is a synonym for the word "white", and since I wanted to make the names sound a little bit more interesting, I decided to use it. And the word "usagi" is Japanese for "rabbit"; ergo, Maka's Diva name is basically just a fancier version of "White Rabbit".

(2) Scarlet Tori – The word "scarlet" is a synonym for the word "red"; basically the same explanation as Maka's title. I wanted the names to sound more interesting and cool, so I used synonyms; also, the word "tori" is Japanese for "bird" (according to the people at ChaCha), hence my decision to use it. After all, this is a power-girl parody, right? Gotta throw some more Japanese in there somehow. :D

Notes:

Okay, as I'm sure a lot of you have already heard, is cracking down on the content of the site, there are to be no more lemons on the sight. Sadly, this leaves me a little… Well, screwed over. Three of my other four upcoming fanfics were going to be of a higher rating due to there being quite a bit of sexual activity in them. Now, one of them can easily be dropped down to what would be an appropriate Rated M on this site but the other two? Not so much. As such, I'll have to upload those stories elsewhere when the time to write them comes (because dropping their rating would cut out essentially half the story and I don't want to do that). As such, I'll let you all know when I start uploading those and I'll tell you where to go as long as you ask me. :3

Next Chapter:

Tsubaki and Maka have a run-in with their first big boss to focus on; Medusa's little lackey known as Free the Wolfman. Maka realizes that if she really needs to stop talking when she's in her Diva form; she's a strange step between being a good superhero and being the worst one ever. The plot thickens with new hurdles being thrown at our quirky heroines!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter Four: The Dopey Villain Sidekick Cliché

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Tsubaki joined the team, Death City Divas, as Blair had said to the little girl at the park, and they had yet to locate the next team member. The day after Tsubaki and Maka met they had gone to the location where the third meteorite had landed to investigate but were, again, ignored and could find no one willing to speak up. They also found that the fourth meteorite had only landed about a mile away and, again, they learned nothing.

"Why won't anyone talk?" She grumbled as she stomped her way over to the gates of Willingham School for the Musically Gifted, to meet up with Tsubaki. Despite she and Soul being back on friendly terms with his valid reasons for being unable to meet her (his parents butting into his life, like usual), she still kept more distance between them than before. She couldn't risk blurting out her feelings and, on top of that, she didn't want him getting involved. In fact, she made sure he didn't know about her meetings with Tsubaki; the ebony haired girl would text her and the two would meet up at the gate after everyone else had left.

"It's probably because they don't care as long as their businesses get put back together nyah," Blair remarked from her perch lounging on Maka's left shoulder. Maka quirked an eyebrow and shook her head lightly.

"Well it's stupid. They should want to help two nice high school girls like Tsubaki and I!" She huffed sulkily. Blair giggled lightly.

"What you said sounded a little naughty to Bu-Tan~!" She laughed while hopping down and darting to Tsubaki, whom waved at them as they reached her.

The young blonde's cheeks turned bright pink and she glared at the fluffy creature using Tsubaki as a shield. "That is not what I meant and you know it!"

"Anyway, what will we be doing today?" Tsubaki asked politely as she shifted her bag on her shoulder. Maka sighed and looked at the other, examining her appearance. Although Tsubaki had made it clear that she was not interested in Soul and offered to do her best to help Maka in her quest for love (all thanks to Blair opening her big mouth once at training about Maka's little crush) she couldn't help but feel like she could never match Tsubaki in pure sex appeal. The rich cream color of her school uniform accented the lightness of her skin, the rich color of her eyes and the shiny in her dark locks. On top of that, the large pink bow that was tied off at her throat drew attention to her chest, and the thigh high black socks she wore drawing attention to the curve and shape of her hips and waist.

Meanwhile, in her uniform of a white short-sleeved blouse and black and green checkered skirt with a matching tie knotted at her neck, Maka looked like a plank of wood; shapeless and dull.

She pulled herself from her little pity party and looked toward Blair. "I caught readings of one of Medusa's main team members hanging around somewhere close by. Apparently you guys taking out her monsters has caught her attention and she's recognized you as a threat," She explained calmly. She nodded her head toward the downtown area. "They're somewhere downtown. Hopefully you two will be able to do some more practice with using your animal abilities."

"I don't really see how," Maka said with a small sigh and shrug. Blair had explained that, eventually, they would also be able to turn into their animals like she could. On top of that, she explained that they would gain different perks as well. "I mean, obviously Tsubaki's gotten way better at the whole flying thing but I don't see how any special ability I could get from a rabbit could help. I mean, maybe I could have super speed but that won't really help us out downtown. There's too much traffic and too many buildings."

"We should focus more on stopping whoever this is than what we can handle in training. There's a huge park concert going on tonight; tons of people will be milling about out there with a pretty big threat looming over them," Tsubaki said worriedly. Maka nodded lightly, remembering Soul having mentioning it. When he had brought it up, of course, he had been asking Maka is she wanted to go with him and his parents.

"You may have terrible taste in music but you're more fun than my parents," He had said casually. It had been two nights ago while they were on the phone that he had asked. It was also the night Blair informed her of her latest discovery.

"I don't know, Soul," She had sighed lightly, glancing down at the cover of her forgotten book. She had been doing pretty well at putting space in between them so far but Soul was starting to notice. "I've got a lot going on right now."

"Yeah, right," He had said sarcastically. She could see him scowling and rolling her eyes at her words, just because she knew his reactions so well. "I'm your only friend so I know it's not a social life taking up your time. And on top of that, you've spent so much time reading that I doubt you need to study that much for class. So what's your deal?"

Maka twitched at this, stung by his words because they honestly hurt and they were, in fact, the truth. However, she always tended to translate her sadness into biting rage. "You certainly sound like you think you know everything," She said flatly, standing up and walking toward her desk. She flipped through the complete science packet she had left there. "For your information, I already have plans for Friday night. And even if I didn't, I wouldn't want to spoil it by having to deal with an insulting ass like you anyway!" She snapped before promptly hanging up on him like the mature, responsible young lady that she was.

And to keep herself from being a liar, Maka had called Tsubaki and made plans for a sleepover on Friday night.

It had made sense, the more she thought about it. Not only did they pretty much have to spend all their free time together for training and monster slaying, she had found that she really did enjoy being around someone of the same sex and age. While they had their differences, they had discovered they both had a guilty pleasure for all kinds of "chick flicks"; a secret they both kept well hidden from their male friends by recommending the newest horror flick or Michael Bay creation whenever going to the movies . On top of that, they each had a severe sweet tooth but a strict workout regiment to excuse their indulgent behaviors. When she had recommended the sleepover, Tsubaki had offered that they stay at her apartment. Her brother, Masamune, would feel more relaxed knowing his younger sister wasn't alone since he had to tend to a business trip for the weekend.

"Let's drop our things off at Tsubaki's and then we'll start our investigations," Maka suggested calmly. Her associates and the two teens started walking while Blair… Well, she just stayed on Tsubaki's shoulder and listened with only a little bit of interest as the two started talking.

"So you're mad at Soul again, aren't you?" Tsubaki asked gently. At the surprised look she received she smiled shyly. "He asked me what I think would work to get him back in your good graces at lunch today."

"It's less him and more me, really," Maka sighed heavily. She then shook her head. "I just… Normally the stupid things he says wouldn't get to me but ever since the day I got these powers… He and I had a huge fight on the day I got my powers. I was planning to tell him how I felt about him but then it turned into a fight and I never even ended up telling him. And now… With these new powers and responsibilities… I don't want him getting hurt, you know?"

The other nodded and gave her shoulder a little pat. "I understand where you're coming from. It's not like we can tell anyone the truth; after all, if we did, what would be the point of the changes to our appearance? But I do think you need to talk to Soul and lay your feelings on the table," She stated delicately. She couldn't help but smile at the horror that filled up the other's bright jade spheres. "But just explain to him that while you do have feelings for him, being friends is the best you can do right now. And if he doesn't feel the same, which I highly doubt given how worried he gets over you, than at least you can get all the awkwardness out of the air and try to regain the friendship you have. Pushing him away and starting fights when you don't really want to is only making things worse, don't you think?"

"Why is it that you can make it sound so simple and obvious?" She whined, getting giggles from her new friend.

"It's because you're over thinking it nyah," Blair chimed in lightly. She had been licking one of her paws but stopped to join in on the conversation. After all, getting Maka all flustered over her inexperience with relationships just got her whiskers all twitchy with delight! "Most boys are completely stupid and need to have their hands held when dealing with relationships. Just because he's known you since you were kids doesn't mean he notices how you're always undressing him with your eyes."

"I am not undressing Soul with my eyes!" She shrieked shrilly. Her cheeks had blazed to life at the others comments, but then paled in horror as she turned to the laughing Tsubaki. "I mean, it doesn't look like that, does it? I mean… That is to say… Gah!" She gave up when Tsubaki started laughing harder. They were getting stared at strangely by the adults all around them but neither girl was playing particular attention.

The rest of the walk to the apartment was mostly Tsubaki cheering Maka up while Blair watched with mischievous gold orbs. Once they got their bags placed safely in Tsubaki's bedroom, they transformed into Alabaster Usagi (1) and Scarlet Tori, and Tsubaki flew them there (carrying a blushing Maka like a princess while Blair rested on the silver haired crime fighter's stomach). She landed them up on top of a building near the performance, since it would give them the best vantage point.

Maka dusted her skirt off once she was on her own feet and looked at Blair. The other had transformed into her own officer's uniform and changed her collar into the tracker it served as. "So where are the readings coming from?" She asked, peering over the edge of the building and into the crowd. She could see Soul, looking sullen in his school uniform, with his parents on either side of him. Despite the live jazz band, he was most likely sulking because his parents felt the need to chaperone him wherever he went.

It had all started because his older brother, Wesley Evans, had gone missing one night on his way home from his classes. Now they watched over their youngest child with a kind of scrutiny that would leave the most high-strung parents flabbergasted.

"It looks like they're coming from behind the stage," She said worriedly. Maka glanced at her and then fixed her gaze on the black curtains that had been hung to hide all the equipment and stage hands. Of course; the enemy agent must be hiding among them! But for what purpose? And then it slapped her hard in the face. "Of course! He must have a bunch of Medusa's experiments at the ready, planning to take all these people as either hostages or guinea pigs for her tests!" She gasped, tail fluffing out as she looked at her rookies. She then looked back down. "You'll have to make your presence known, as a distraction. While you handle this, I'm going to go and see if I can't find some clue as to where Medusa's base must be. If one of her main lackeys is here, they must have some item I can use to track that damned snake down." She growled while changing back into her cat form and heading off.

The two girls watched her go before looking back at one another. "How exactly are we supposed to get this person to come out? I mean, if he's back stage we can't go back there. Blair's heading there to see what she can learn," Tsubaki said with a worried frown. Maka sighed and mumbled to herself, snapping her fingers. Her bow slithered to her hand and took its weapon shape.

"We'll have to do this as flamboyantly as we possibly can," She sighed as she stood on the bricks lining the edge of the building, her weapon clutched in one hand. She waited until the applause had died down and the band was preparing their next piece. "Attention concert goers!" She called suddenly. All eyes swiveled to her and she had to fight back a nervous, self-conscience smile. Especially when she saw the very shocked face of a certain albino. "Please pardon our interrupting your performance, but you are all in grave danger! There is a monster hiding among the stage hands and it aims to harm you all! Please, we need you to evacuate so that we may take him down!"

"How cool!" One little girl gushed eagerly.

"Is this a live-action super hero stunt? Why aren't there any guys?" A young boy, probably about the same age as the girl, chimed in excitedly. The kids all looked excited at this prospect but the rest of the crowd was dividing. Some of the adults looked interested; others annoyed and put-off. All the teenagers looked ready to burst with laughter or just plain confused, trying to figure out if maybe they knew the oddly dressed crusaders of justice. And the performers? Well, those poor musicians looked mortified by this "prank".

Maka opened her mouth to speak again when they heard a loud roar from behind the stage and the curtains were torn to ribbons. A wolf man with beady black eyes stepped out, drooling ever so slightly and sneering up at them. The audience erupted into a mix of horrified screams and the eager squeals of children, not seeming to notice that the musicians themselves were making a break for it. "I didn't think you'd ever show up, little Divas!"

"You know who we are, but what about you?" Tsubaki said as she came to stand beside her teammate. With the current exchange Maka realized this was starting to sound like one of those cheesy live action superhero shows. She validated it by two means; telling herself that they were only speaking like this as a side effect of the powers and also because they did need answers to their questions.

"Just call me Free," He said with a smirk, pulling a small golden orb from a pocket on his tattered clothes. He flicked it up in the air and let out a loud howl. The golden orb shattered at the sound of his call and a huge monster suddenly appeared from it. It appeared to be a griffin, given the animal parts that had been sewn together to make it. "Now go get us some test subjects!" He ordered.

The creature let out an ear splitting shriek and dived into the crowd. Maka turned to Tsubaki and the two nodded, understanding what they needed to do without exchanging words. Maka had her weapon return to its ribbon form on her blouse and held her arms up. Tsubaki hovered over her for a moment before she grabbed her arms just above the elbows and started to fly them toward the ground. "I'll take the furry freak if you handle that flying abomination, okay?" She asked as they headed toward the ground.

The damned monster suddenly broke from the crowd and took off toward the sky. Maka perked up when she heard the familiar hysterical shriek of Soul's name and turned. That stupid thing had a swearing and squirming Soul clenched in its talons! Oh, it was on now! "Change of plans! Get me as close to the thing as you can and then throw me at it!" She snapped angrily, the bow on her blouse glowing in anticipation of transforming.

Although she didn't seem too sure about it, the other nodded and fluttered toward the creature. It let out another cry at the sight of them and Tsubaki took her cue. Using all her strength she sent Maka flying at the beast. The ribbon transformed as soon as Maka's hands were free and she let out a loud cry as she dug the blade into the creature's back, just above its right wing. It tried to flap away but this sudden movement only caused her blade to start dragging down until the wing was completely severed. In the pain, it released its victim and Maka jumped into action again.

Her weapon returned to its bow status again, leaving her able to grab onto Soul. He stared at her with wide eyes as they fell, her arms coming to rest behind his back and under his knees, holding him like a princess. She was suddenly grateful that he didn't know it was her; she would never hear the end of how "uncool" she had treated him. "Are you okay?" She asked worriedly, seeming unconcerned with the fact they were free falling toward the ground.

"I'm not going to be in, like, five seconds!" He snapped back, a touch of panic in his eyes and voice. She blinked then giggled lightly.

"Don't worry; you're safe with me," She said, glancing to see the fast approaching ground. She tried running through several different plans until she remembered what Blair had said about taping into heightened attributes of their animal. She tried to think of something about rabbits that could be useful in this situation. Rabbits were fast, and small, and… Ah! She focused on her feet and just as her boots started to make contact with the ground, she hopped back until the pressure of the fall was gone. Then, once they were safe, she calmly let Soul get back onto his own two feet. "You should probably get out of here."

"Who are y-?" His question was silenced when his mother came running over, flinging her arms around him tightly. His cheeks turned pink while Maka smiled at him. "Mom! Come on, I'm fine!" He said quickly, trying to squirm free.

With his safety secured, Maka darted over to where Tsubaki was. The other had gone after the wolf man, like she said, and she could see the injured beast heading over to enter the fray in support of its master. Her bow returned to its weapon form and she got between her teammate and the charging monster. "Thanks!" Tsubaki called over her shoulder.

"Not a problem!" She called back before turning to face the monster. Its fangs were bared, a low annoyed hiss slipping from between the teeth. "Bring it, ugly. I owe you more than just that little wing-loping for what you've done." She said, readying herself. It lunged at her, own paw raised to strike, and she easily sliced through that one and sent it disappearing in a plume of grey smoke.

"What the Hell?" Free suddenly squawked in alarm just as Tsubaki brought her blade into his midriff. He blinked, stared at it, then quirked an eyebrow at her. "That's kind of rude, don't you think? I mean, come on, attacking while your opponent is distracted? That's a low blow."

"What?" She gasped, eyes wide in horror. While she was sputtered frantically, he grabbed her blade and sent her flying right into her companion. The two tumbled on the ground for a few seconds before landing with Maka on her back and Tsubaki spread out over her belly. "The blade… How could it have not cut him?" She groaned lowly. She gave her wings a quick flap, effectively sending her back onto her feet. She then helped the other girl up.

"It's Medusa's power, you foolish little girls," He chuckled darkly. He gestured to his stomach, where his attire was ripped from the blade but no cut or blood could be found. "She gave me the inability to be hurt by your weapons. Just needed a few of her adjustments and then bam!"

"Pum-Pum-Pumpkin!" The familiar voice of Blair suddenly declared before a large flaming ball of pumpkin rammed into the back of Free's head and sent him colliding with the ground. She smirked down at him. "Weapons can't hurt you but my Captain-style magic certainly can nyah~!" She beamed, hands on her hips.

"That's what she looks like as a human?" Tsubaki asked softly before looking down at herself.

"Don't you dare," Maka said flatly, "start feeling bad about your figure compared to hers. At least you've got goodies to flaunt." The other blushed but quickly turned her attention back to their purple haired companion. She was grinning down at the hunched from of the wolf man at her feet. She then held up a little brown cloth bag and wagged it in the air.

"I may not have found any clues but I just got us a whole bushel of those little beasties Medusa's so fond of conjuring up~!" She cheered victoriously. Free's mouth hung open before he growled and snapped his fingers. Grey smoke started to envelop him.

"You may have won this round but this is only the beginning of what Lady Medusa has planned from this puny little plant," He said coldly before being completely enveloped in the fog. The three women watched him go before Blair giggled and lightly tapped her collar with one finger.

"My commanders' are going to be so proud of me!" She cheered while leaping in glee. Maka and Tsubaki watched her with comical sweat-drops on the sides of their heads. Tsubaki, however, was at least smiling and trying to humor the older woman. Maka was just scowling and twitching as if she wanted to knock herself unconscious.

"That's so great, Blair," Tsubaki said in a tone that she hoped sounded supportive.

"Is she really supposed to be of higher authority than us? I'm starting to seriously doubt it," She sighed lightly. She suddenly heard someone clear their throat and turned to see the Evans family staring at her. Her ears twitched up a bit in alarm and she let out a nervous laugh. "You should probably get out of here. We may have chased off the bad guy and his pet but there may be others, waiting to launch another-!" She let out a startled yelp when Mrs. Evans suddenly embraced her tightly. "…Attack…" She finished softly, peering at Soul over her shoulder.

He was no help; he was too busy hiding his face in hands and mumbling about how "uncool" everything was.

If she could have, she would have Maka-Chopped him and told him to stop whining. "Thank you… Thank you so much for saving my son," She snapped back to attention when she heard the hiccupped words of the older woman. Her eyes softened a bit and she smiled, embracing the other back gently.

"You're very welcome, Mrs. Evans," She said before pulling back carefully and trotting back over to her two female cohorts.

"Wait! How did you know my name?" She gasped, covering her mouth with one hand in surprise. Red orbs widened before fixing on the white haired crime fighter. She had known his name, too, that time a few weeks back when she saved him before.

Rather than answer, however, Maka simply smiled and bowed gracefully. "I am one of the Death City Divas; of course I know who you are! I'm one of the few that will return the safety this city once had!" She declared proudly before Blair snapped her fingers. A whirlwind overtook the trio and they disappeared, just like they had last time Soul had seen them.

'_This… Whoever she is, she knows me,'_ Soul thought as his father grabbed his shoulder gently and started to lead him away. His eyes hardened with determination. _'So, Alabaster Usagi, who are you and what, exactly, are you fighting for?'_

…

His head was dipped as he awaited the onslaught of harsh words he knew were about to come. After all, he had failed his mission. He hadn't even succeeded in bringing back a single human test subject! "And that is what happened, Lady Medusa," He said finally, sucking in a breath after his words slipped out.

"I see. Well, you tried your best and all that nonsense," She said casually, rolling her hand in a wide circle. He lifted his head and dared to look at her. She was sitting in her lab coat, her feet propped up on her desk, and an uncharacteristic sense of aloofness coming off her in waves. What was wrong with her? Normally a failure as grand as his would warrant punishment!

"Aren't you… Mad?" He asked cautiously.

"Oh, I am pissed to an extent I have not been in a long while, don't misunderstand," She said just as evenly as she had a moment before. She pinned him with a small glare. "However, I have been reading a book about how best to handle insubordination and failure within a large organization and apparently punishments as severe as I usually dish out are ineffective. As such, you'll be taking the back seat as I put my newest plan into action."

"Newest plan?" He asked curiously. He then glanced over at the glowing eyes filled with blood lust in the corner.

Medusa's lips twitched up in a wicked smile. "But of course. Isn't that right…?"

End

(1) At the suggestion of Contaminated Angel, I have decided to change Maka's Diva name to Alabaster Usagi instead. Their explanation made a lot of sense and they were very polite about their approach; thus, I understood and was more than willing to change it accordingly. A sincere shout out of gratitude to you, Contaminated Angel, for informing me of a way to improve the story. :3

Notes:

Maka's jumping ability doesn't have to make sense. The powers of half the superheroes out there make no real sense when analyzed by scientists so neither do mine. :3

Also, I have come to a conclusion, thanks to all the reviews I have received (and an explanation by the fabulous GlitterGoat). *Puts on some sunglasses in hopes of looking BA* Let's play ball. I'm going to include lemons, and if that group Critics United has a problem with it than they can bring it! I'm kind of a closet asshole, and when I find out something is just **a bunch of** **dicks trying to piss people off**… I decide to fight back. So, if they do come a'lurkin' and get me busted, I've already backed up all my stories on my computer again and will move my operations on to my deviantart. I'll leave the link up on my profile for you all, just in case. B)

The plot is thickening~!

Next Chapter:

Medusa sets the next phase of her plan into motion; meaning she's basically going to send some competent agents after Maka and Tsubaki. Blair is horrified at what she learns in their newest fight and realizes that she will probably be receiving a demotion when all is said and done. Maka has an interesting run-in with a weird kid she's never met and it leaves her more unhinged then she thinks it probably should.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter Five: The Weird Jerk in the Know Cliché

Maka smirked a bit as she cut down another of the Medusa's little beasts. After she had reported her newest discovery to her commanding officers, Blair had decided that they would use these little monsters as practice between battles with Medusa's lackeys. Which was good, since there hadn't been an attack in almost a month. "Should we be worried?" Tsubaki asked, fluttering back on to the ground after cutting down the flying beast she'd been up against.

"Why do you think that nyah?" Blair asked, tying the little bag of monster spheres back up. It was a Saturday night and the group had been practicing in an abandoned old building. It had been a factory of some sort, which was perfect, because it had high ceilings, tons of obstacles and very little light to assure they would have to be on guard and hone their skills.

"Well, it seems suspicious," She said while powering down. Maka changed as well, taking the monster sphere bag from Blair as she turned back into a cat and hopped up on to her shoulder. "I mean, she's left us with a lot of free time to get better with our powers."

"That's a good point. We should probably be prepared for a sneak attack or something like that," Maka agreed with a nod.

"Medusa is a genius so she'd probably just trying to improve the quality of her creatures," The cat said casually, tail flicking lightly. The young blonde shoved the bag into her purse and headed toward the exit.

"Well, we should still be ready. She's spent a lot of time on whatever new project she's focusing on," She said blandly. Tsubaki nodded as well before she giggled lightly.

"Are we still on for our plans to go to the movies tomorrow?" She asked excitedly.

"Totally! I've been looking forward to it all weekend!" She said. The two girls then waved and headed off in toward their homes. After a few moments of silence Maka looked at Blair. "Hey, Blair, how come you haven't tried finding the other two members of our team?"

"Oh, I have tried to find them, Maka, but I've run into trouble. Something happened and the signals jammed now," She said, worriedly liking one of her paws.

"What do you mean? How can the signal be jammed?" She asked, feeling a little bit anxious over this news.

"I don't know, Maka," She said gently, trying to calm herself down as well. Blair's superiors had told her to make sure to keep her agents as relaxed as possible while still keeping them informed on what she knew. Not an easy task, but the purple feline had always been good at this sort of thing. "I think Medusa's the cause of it. After seeing how easily you and Tsubaki wiped the floor with Free, she's probably trying to keep us from getting the other two members to limit our success. Don't worry, though; my bosses will find a way to take care of it right away!"

"I certainly hope so," Maka sighed uncertainly. She only hoped that her friends

…

Maka was up bright and early for the festivities of the day. She and Tsubaki had decided to catch a matinee since the tickets would be half price. She tossed on a blue and black plaid dress, her usual white purse and her pink flats, tied her hair up in her usual pigtails with regular black hair ties and glanced over at her feline friend. "Are you sure you don't want to come along, Blair?" She asked.

"Bu-Tan's going to try and investigate more into this issue with the signal nyah~!" She yawned, arching her back as she stretched. She scratched behind one ear, then hopped over to the open window. "Thank you for the invite, though. If you two need anything, Bu-Tan will have an ear to the ground for you."

"Thanks, Blair. And good luck," She said merrily before the two parted ways and headed off. She and Tsubaki were becoming great friends, learning all sorts of different things from one another. Maka was really happy because Tsubaki, being a native of Japan whom had moved here a few years back to attend school, could speak Japanese. Maka's mother had been Japanese as well, and taught her daughter a few things. Sometimes she and the other would use said language, just to help the blonde keep it fresh in her mind.

She liked being able to keep the happier memories of her childhood alive and well.

But she had also learned that Tsubaki was a little bit of a meddler. When she knew something, and felt that she could help, she liked to stick her nose into it. The whole Soul-thing was one example. She had been pushing Maka to open up to him and confess her feelings. She said to tell him that she cared for him as more than a friend but explain that she didn't want a relationship just yet. And Maka… Well, she found the idea ridiculous. If she wasn't going to be able to be with Soul than what was the point of telling him at all? It would be better to just keep it all inside until, possibly, if he hadn't already found some supermodel-hot girl whom shared his taste in music and was everything he always complained about her not being, maybe… Well, maybe then she could be honest about her feelings for him.

Not that Tsubaki ever listened to her. This was apparent by the fact that Black*Star and Soul were both waiting with the ebony haired beauty at the ticket booth.

She plastered on a smile, despite the horror and outrage bubbling just beneath the surface. "Oh, hey you guys! Tsubaki didn't tell me she invited you two to the movie!" She said merrily.

"Surprise?" Soul repeated with a quirked eyebrow and scowl. He indicated Tsubaki, who as smiling with a faint blush, with a tip of his head. "She told us you asked her to invite us. Said it'd be nice to hang out again after a while, since you and I haven't seen as much of each other as usual."

"Maka must have just… Uh, forgotten! Yeah, between the test she had this week and all that other stuff going on," The flustered young girl scrambled out eagerly. She flashed her teammate a smile that begged that she just play along. Maka kept that tense smile on her face and scratched at the back of her head as if she was embarrassed.

"I guess I must have. Things have definitely been hectic for me lately," She said before walking over to the booth and getting her own ticket. The four headed in, Black*Star racing to the snack bar immediately to order himself some treats for the movie.

"Oh yeah? What's going down, exactly?" Soul asked interestedly, keeping pace with the two women and positioning himself right between them. He had placed himself perfectly so that they would not be able to try and confer with one another about a half-assed story, much to the duo's grief.

"Oh, there's just this guy," Tsubaki began slowly, "that keeps trying to ask her out." Maka paled, eyes as wide as saucers, but luckily enough he wasn't looking at her. He stared at Tsubaki and then started laughing.

"Yeah, right! One look at her chest and any guy who even thought she'd be girlfriend material would change their opinion!" He howled. He howled even louder, of course, when Maka brought one of her magic books down on his head. "Why do you always do that?" He whined, crouched on the ground and holding his head.

She scoffed and turned her head away from him. "Tsubaki and I are going to freshen up before the movie. You two make sure to get good seats," She said before grabbing the other girl's wrist and dragging her along. He watched them go, ruby orbs hazy with a mix of suspicion and pain.

But it was mostly pain.

Once she knew they were the only ones in the public washrooms, emerald orbs locked with cerulean. "What are you thinking?" She squeaked indignantly.

"Oh, why isn't it working?" The other fretted, pulling a rolled-up magazine from the confines of her purse. It was the heading, however, that caught her associate's attention: 10 Tips to Tell if he IS that in to you or if it's a Waste of Time. "The article says that if he gets jealous over the mention of another man ii means he's interested! Well, maybe Soul's just confident, like Black*Star? Let's see, what else do we need to test?" She said absently, flipping through the pages.

This was when Maka snatched the magazine right from her friend's hands. "Tsubaki, please stop this!" She whined, the other blinking a few times in concern.

"But, Maka, I really think-!"

"No, please don't!" She pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand while the other held onto the magazine. Deep breath, calm down, and then calmly explain everything. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do but please let me handle this. I want to wait until the time is right and… Well, given that we are pursuing a space criminal right now, I can't afford to get him involved."

"You shouldn't let our duties as Divas affect your social life so much," The other said patiently. She held her gaze, blue eyes filled with sincerity and certainty. "We were given these gifts to help protect this city but we need something to fight for. Look, I will try to step out and let you handle things your way, but I still say you should tell him. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but sometime soon. I mean, even Blair agrees with me! And she knows better than anyone what kind of danger we face!"

Maka looked off to the side, unsure of what to say. Tsubaki had a good point. If Blair wasn't worried, and was even **encouraging** her, to tell the truth, then why couldn't she just do it? It wasn't like Medusa was doing anything too devious right now. It was clearly going to be sometime before her next attack; and even then, she and Tsubaki would be even better at what they were doing. Rather than admitting to all of that, Maka simply offered the other her magazine back, uttered a soft apology for crumpling it a little bit, and then headed to the door.

Tsubaki giggled and followed her without another word about the matter. Luckily enough, the washrooms were right across from their theater. Plus, they had arrived early enough so that the lights in the cinema were still on. It certainly made finding their male cohorts easier. The duo was sitting next to one another, with a free seat on each side of them. Tsubaki took the spot beside Black*Star without a second thought and Maka, by default, took the open space next to Soul. "I got you a drink. Dr. Pepper, right?" He asked, offering her the large paper cup.

She took it and nodded, feeling a little uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah. Thanks. I'll pay you back after the show," She said gently. The lights started to dim and she was surprised. Were they really the only four whom had decided to come out for the show?

"Don't sweat it," He said with a casual wave of his hand. His attention was fixed on the movie screen and she let herself relax into her seat again. She forced her mind to focus on the trailers and not get too hung up over the conversation she and Tsubaki had just moments before.

…

Blair sighed and sank heavily into her seat. She had been snooping around all day but had been unable to find anything that could explain her signal being jammed. She was currently taking a little break from her search to get a drink at an outdoor café. She took a small sip from her cappuccino and smiled; this was something about Earth that she was absolutely in love with.

She also liked how the men stopped and stared at her in her bikini-like outfit. That never got old.

"Where should I look next?" She mused aloud, liking a bit of frothy white cream from her lips. She resisted the urge to smirk at the choking noise she heard come from one of the men at a table to her left. "I already know that going to the actual site won't do me any good. The signals far too old to be followed and the jamming is at its worst there."

And then, as if to answer her prayers, her little pendant started to beep. She set her cappuccino down and plucked the transmitter off, holding it in her palm as it shifted into its map mode. She ignored the whispers and alarmed noises she heard around her and stood. The little pink dot signaling the aura of one of the meteorites seemed to only be about four blocks away from her location, but it was moving. And it was moving fast. "Poor rookie must have run into trouble," She mumbled before smirking widely. She took off at a run, giggling excitedly. "Don't worry, little kitten~! Bu-Tan is on her way to help~!"

Of course, as she was running, Blair was preparing herself to explain how to fight to the newest recruit. And even as people were running past her, screaming in terror, she understood that was normal. Medusa's creations were horrifying monstrosities, to say the least. Her communicator suddenly binged loudly, alerting her that she had arrived, and she snapped her head up to see what was going on.

She had to be dreaming, she told herself immediately. She recognized by the bushy black tail and pointed ears that this was most certainly the container of the Black Fox spirit. The problem? **She** was the one leading the huge onslaught of Medusa's little beasties. "W-What are you doing?" She called frantically, taking a step forward.

Glowering tangerine orbs fixed on her before lighting up a touch with mirth. "Ah, good," She mused lightly, turning to fully face the other. She snapped her fingers and the monsters halted their various activities to crowd behind her. "You must be one of the Divas, right?"

"Yes, I am! And so are you!" She said worriedly. Her fists clenched at her sides before she looked around. Shop windows had been shattered and there were innocent victims strewn about the chaotic street. Surprisingly enough it seemed that none of them were injured; just frightened and paralyzed because of it. She glared at the other. "You must know that you are a Diva!"

The other chuckled lightly, snapping her fingers again and two guns appearing in her grasp. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," She shrugged with a giggle. She indicated behind Blair with one of her guns. "Now, where are your little pals? I came here to take you all out in one go."

"They aren't here," She answered levelly, "and I'm not going to call for them. I can handle a cocky little upstart like you on my own." Blair yanked her communicator from her neck and clicked one of the many buttons on it. In a flash of light, it transformed into a jet black naginata.

"Nifty little trick there, but I'm not interested in dealing with the old hag of the group," The young girl said while turning on her heels.

Blair's cheeks flamed to life and she stamped one foot on the ground. "How-How dare you! Bu-Tan is a sexy young lady nyah!" She was only further angered when the other woman just kept walking. "You get back here! You're gonna pay for that!" She cried, chasing after her.

One of the monsters, a hawk-lion-alligator crossover of some sort, intercepted her and lashed out at her. She blocked quickly and pushed it back a few feet.

"Half of you stay here and play with CatWoman. The rest of you are coming with me," The fox-girl ordered strictly. Without a noise of protest or question, a few more monsters darted over to where Blair and their brother were battling. She smirked a bit when she heard a loud shriek of rage erupt from behind her. "I'm more in the mood for some rabbit stew with a side of roasted turkey."

…

In the end, they had a lot more fun than Maka had thought. Since they were the only people in the theater, they got to be as loud as they wanted. Which was wonderful, because this movie was a total flop that they ended up bashing. It felt like they were doing their own version of Mystery Science Theater 3000; a show she loved to pieces. "So, should we go demand refunds or not?" Soul asked with a smirk as they walked out.

"Not since we ended up having a good time anyway," Maka responded evenly. She stretched and glanced at her watch. Was it really noon? That hadn't felt like two hours at all! "So, should we go get lunch or does everyone need to do other things?"

"Black*Star and I actually have to leave. We have a karate class we help teach that starts in about an hour or so," Tsubaki chimed in calmly, glancing at her own watch.

"Someone needs to remind those kids of who's the best of the best, after all!" Black*Star laughed happily. Soul and Maka exchanged skeptical glances but kept their comments to themselves. "I'll have to bless you with my Godly presence another time!" He said, patting Maka on the head with a boisterous laugh.

"Oh, goody," She grumbled bitterly, fingers twitching to pull out one of her many magical books to bludgeon him with. She watched the duo head on out, waving with a smile at her female companion, before glancing at Soul. "So, what about you? The parents want you home bright and early, like usual?"

He made a face at her. She knew that his parents had set a ridiculous curfew for him stating he could not be out after the sun was down unless one of them was with him. Over the summer he had snuck out his window to join Maka on many a misadventure, of course, but during the school year he was typically more well-mannered and humored them. "The usual curfew so I have time to kill. I could always take you to that café, since I've owed you that for, like, two months now or something," He said with a shrug.

'_Bite the bullet, bite the bullet, __**bite the damn bullet**__!'_ A voice in the back of her head (that sounded suspiciously like Blair…) suddenly screamed. She swallowed, grappling with the decision, wondering if she should. Were Blair and Tsubaki right? Should she take him up on this offer and then, while they were out, reveal everything she'd been struggling with? Confess why his words had hurt her, and risk their friendship? She opened her mouth to respond when her cell phone suddenly chimed. She pulled it out to find she had a text message from… Tsubaki?

"Red alert; we have a problem in the parking lot. Come alone," It read and she felt her free hand tighten. That could only mean one thing.

"Sorry, seems something just came up," She said absently, glaring down at the text message. Of course Medusa was going to stick her nose back into Earth business just as Maka was beginning to weigh the pros and cons of trying to start up a love life. That was just the story of her life; **everything was perfectly timed to piss her the fuck off**.

"Oh, shit, that sucks. How about tomorrow, then, after school?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure, that'll be fine," She said hurriedly, shoving her cell back into her purse. She didn't even bother to glance his way before starting to sprint toward the exit her teammate had taken just a few minutes ago. "I'll see you then!" She called over her shoulder.

"Sure thing," He mumbled, waving at her retreating back. His fists clenched at his side and he glared at the ground. "What the Hell is going on with you, Maka Albarn?"

…

Maka made sure to duck behind an empty car the minute she was outside and forced her change. When she jumped back up, Pallid Usagi mask dawned, she saw tons of Medusa's monsters darting here and there after various humans. There was no sign of Tsubaki yet, but she assumed it was because she was having trouble ditching Black*Star. She focused on her ribbon, forcing it into its weapon form, and launched herself at one of the beasts that had cornered an elderly woman. "I don't think that this is going to win you a badge from the boy scouts, but thanks for playing!" She snapped while digging her blade right between its shoulders. It squealed before evaporating into a fine grey mist.

That was when a blur of pink rammed into Maka and sent her spinning on the asphalt for a few feet.

She glanced up to take in the figure sneering down on her, ignoring how the little black flicks of the asphalt dug into her knees through the thin material of her piano-pattern stockings. The first thing she noticed was the inky, bushy tail and matching ears of some animal. A cat, perhaps? The hue made it almost hard to tell the difference between her ears and her hair, the same dark tint as the appendages in question. Next was the intense smug gleam in those orange tinted eyes. It got under Maka's skin and made her want to sink her fist very, very far in the other's face. She then looked over the costume she was wearing.

It was a pink dress with a corset-style bodice. There were little silver hooks all along the front, indicating where the ribbon of her costume should be but was not. Most likely removed to take over as the twin pistols she was holding in either hand. The dress had short, fluffy white sleeves that hung a touch off her shoulders. The skirt of the dress was about as long as Maka's (making it far too short to be practical, in the young woman's opinion) but the edge of the skirt had white fluff like that of the sleeves. The entire outfit was finished off with a pair of rose tinted ankle length high heeled boots. The most interesting thing to Maka, however, was the lack of stockings, much like her avian companion.

Was she the only one whose costume had anything to help keep her modesty (to some degree, anyway) intact?

"So you're the bunny rabbit Lady Medusa's been so frustrated over," The other mused lightly, starting to walk toward her. Maka quickly hopped back onto her feet and stepped back, wanting to keep some distance between them. "Oh, does the poor wittle wabbit not want to play with the big, bad foxy? Can the baby bunny not fight without her hummingbird buzzing beside her?" She mocked with a wider smirk.

It was official; Maka did not like this chick. However, she also recognized that the other was working with a fox spirit, meaning she was most likely a Diva. After all, if Medusa could create her own army of Diva-esque soldiers, Blair would have mentioned it. Her feline cohort had explained that Medusa's lackeys, for the most part, were just various kinds of aliens that had assembled under their dark ruler. And Divas… Well, Divas were only created by the intergalactic police brigade meant to keep the galaxies safe. "Who are you and what do you want?" She asked suspiciously.

"You can call me Ebony Kitsune (1)," Her smirk widened as she cocked her guns, "and I'm here to take you out." Without another word, she pulled the trigger on both, aiming her blasts at Maka's head and heart.

She did a cartwheel out of the way, keeping her hold on her weapon. She could tell that the guns bullets were not normal, given that they appeared as bright spheres of light. Did they hurt and do as much damage as a regular gun? She could only image, given the nicely sized dents they left on the pavement where she had once occupied. "You wanna play hard ball? Fine then!" She snapped back, hopping back as the other lunged at her.

It became a blur of dodges and blocks from that point, on both parts. While Maka wasn't actually out to kill or even maim her opponent, she did hope to incapacitate her. She was clearly a more human-thing than anything else she had been made to fight (since Free had actually been Tsubaki's job and was then finished off by Blair). Killing the monsters was not a problem, really; they were the remains of poor tortured animals. Killing them was, in her opinion, a way to help the souls of the dead creatures go to their eternal resting place. But Medusa's cronies were **willing** test subjects, that **willingly** followed their leader. They enjoyed the idea of tormenting the Earthlings that were unable to properly defend themselves.

And what would that make Maka herself, if she willingly attacked the other? No better than them! So her only option was to knock Ebony Kitsune out and then question her as to her motives once that was accomplished. Sadly, things didn't seem like they would be going her way. Her scythe was knocked from her grip and the butt of one of her opponent's guns was introduced rather roughly to the side of her head. She stumbled sideways, one hand clutching at her head, while she glared at the other. "If you can't play with the big dogs get back on the porch," She other snickered lightly.

"Oh, so you admit to being a bitch?" Maka asked smugly. She was much prouder of the faint blush that rose to the others cheeks, but it was short lived. The other knelt down, cocked her gun again, and pressed the muzzle to her forehead.

"My gun can't kill you, since you've got a Divas powers the same as me, but I can certainly accomplish one step toward my ultimate goal," She hummed lightly. Just as Mala shifted to make a break for it, she pulled the trigger. The young woman was introduced to a brief world of light before darkness swallowed it all up and her body hit the ground with a dull thump. "Well, that wasn't too terribly hard." Kit laughed as she stood back up and snapped her fingers. One of the monsters walked over, carrying a large black camera by a pink neck strap in its mouth. She took the device, snapped a few pictures, and the handed it back. "Now, let's get back to Lady Medusa before that pesky little cat sticks her nose into our business again."

They disappeared in a blur of pink light. They did not notice, however, the civilian watching from the shadows. "So it has finally begun, eh?"

…

Medusa perked up as her favorite operative walked toward her, a decent amount of monsters on either side of her. Some causalities had been expected; after all, it was this agents first mission. On top of that, it wasn't too terribly hard to make more. "So? How did it go?"

"It was a modest victory, but a victory all the same," She answered with a small smile. She held the camera up like a badge of honor. "I got the pictures you wanted. I can develop them tonight and then we'll be able to get Pallid Usagi taken out without her powers."

"Only Pallid Usagi?" She asked levelly, quirking an eyebrow.

"She was the only one that showed up," Kit said calmly, replacing the strap on her own neck and deactivating her Diva state. Being herself, and the weight of the camera on her neck, helped remind her that she was human. She was doing wicked, sinister things but it was okay. She was still herself underneath it all. "I don't think she and Scarlet Tori associate with one another outside of their duties. And I'd bet anything that they probably have a system set up to train and patrol together. Besides, my Lady, I did say it was a modest victory."

"So you did," The other answered with a smirk while rising. She approached her subordinate, pleased at the fearless gleam in those rich sapphire orbs. "I'm glad to know that I have a natural on my team. I'm very proud of your accomplishments today, Elizabeth."

"Thank you, Lady Medusa. I also believe that I will aim for a divide and conquer strategy, since it worked well this time that I only had to worry about one of them," The young woman responded while she shrugged her shoulder, getting the locks of honey-colored hair that resided there to fall back into place. "And, come tomorrow, Pallid Usagi will be a problem no longer."

And, hopefully, that would secure the safety of her most precious person for a little longer.

…

Maka was still pissed on Monday as she marched past the gates of her school. When she had woken up from the hit that Ebony Kitsune had landed on her, she had been greeted by a panicked Blair. She also discovered that her powers had deactivated as well. "It's a side effect to assure that rookies can't seriously hurt one another during training," Blair explained gently. When she had been answered with a questioning look her ears had flattened to her skull. "A blow from another Divas weapon will force you to change back to your civilian mode."

'_Meaning that Ebony Kitsune knows what I look like but I'm still in the dark about her,'_ She thought sourly. On top of that, she had received a message from Soul reminding her that he would pick her up after school so they could finally go to that café together. _'So, what's going to go wrong today? I'm probably going to end up being too stressed to pay attention in class, Soul's going to laugh in my face and stomp on my heart once I tell him how I feel, and then Ebony Kitsune's going to show up with her gaggle of creeps to take me out while I'm down. Well, I guess there are worse ways for it all to end.'_

Blair had promised to follow along in her cat form and intervene if Kit showed up, but she wasn't sure if she felt comfortable with that. What teen girl wants a magical, sexy cat woman there when they get their heart torn to shreds? Maka certainly didn't.

"Ah, there she is! Maka, Maka, dear!" The familiar voice of Miss Nygus, her trigonometry teacher, called lightly from a few feet away. She turned and smiled at the older woman, noting the young man beside her with interest. "This is Maka Albarn, the young lady I had mentioned. She's our top student and also the class president."

The boy smiled at this. "Those are quite some achievements, Miss Albarn. You must be a very dedicated student," His remark came out in a smooth tone that made Maka think of the aristocrats Soul always whined about having to deal with. He was a strange sort, though his appearance did sort of match his voice. The thing that got her was that there were these three lines of white that only went through half of his dark locks. Why didn't he just dye the rest to match? But his dark hair did call attention to those bright golden orbs of his, which she could tell were sizing her up.

Time to sprinkle on an extra dash of ass-kiss to her attitude for the day; couldn't set a bad example, after praises being sung of her.

"I just do what I need to so that I can get into a good college," She said with a humble smile and sugary tone. She then held out her hand to him. "And you are?"

"Ah, of course! You may call me Kid," He said politely, taking her hand. After the brief exchange, his hold seemed to linger longer than she would have liked. And what was with that glint in his eyes? It was as if he was… It was like he was looking down on her! She forced herself to take a few breaths and count to ten before turning her attention to her instructor.

"Now, Maka, I was hoping you could give Kid here a tour of the school," She said merrily. Maka weighted the pros and cons of this for a brief moment. This guy seemed like a real jerk (or maybe she was just overanalyzing or whatever because she was in a bad mood to begin with) but she would be excused from first hour by default. And that would give her some time to try and think of a good excuse to try and worm her way out of this little afternoon date with Soul.

"Of course, Miss Nygus," She said in that same painfully chipper voice. She had perfected this art over the years, to the point where the only one whom saw through it was Soul. It was mostly because he had been the one to teach her the art of brown-nosing like a cool kid.

"If you aren't giving them diabetes then you aren't trying hard enough," He had said once in a tone so serious she fell over laughing afterwards. It was with this thought in mind that she started up casual conversation with the young man as they walked away from their teacher's prying eyes.

He wasn't much for it, though. All her questions were met with brief yes or no answers; even questions that would typically result in a story of some sort. He didn't mention old friends from his previous school, or anything about concerns he had about being the new guy. Maka, whom had been voted as class president since she was in the fifth grade because of her keen intellect and merry nature (though she prefer to keep others at a distance, Soul being the only exception because he was **so damn** persistent), was used to quelling others fears about the first day blues. But he just seemed collected and at ease with everything!

He didn't explain if he was new to town or just the area, either, which really irked her. She would mention spots around the school and her home, to see if he would make any indication that he recognized them, but she got nothing. She was more than grateful, of course, when they reached the end of her tour; the locker bay. She always liked to end here because then she'd help the new student find their locker and leave them to get things organized. From there, they were on their own unless they sought her out. And normally, they didn't, because she could read people exceedingly well. She would find someone that she thought they'd click well with, suggest this person talk to the new student, and then they would be taken into the group as if they had always been there. Only had to dirty her hands up a little, in the long run. "Now then, do you have the slip with what locker they assigned you?"

"Ah, yes, it's number 88," He said with a bright smile. Maka nearly screamed in anguish at this but instead smiled at him. Locker number 88 was right next to her own locker, number 87.

"Oh, wonderful! I know exactly where that one is!" She beamed while leading him along. She lightly tapped his lockers door after the brief walk to it. "Well, anyway, I need to head off to my next class so I'll let you get everything here set up." She said, turning to excuse herself.

Kid, apparently, didn't really agree with her on that front, though. She suddenly found herself pinned between him and the lockers, his hands keeping her in place. "Not so fast, Maka," He said in a tone that sounded much more… Well, sinister was the only thing she could think of. It sent shivers of fear and panic rolling down her spine and made her want to dig her elbow right into his nose. If his hands did anything she didn't find kosher… Well, he had better check himself before he wrecked himself. "I think that you and I should have a little chat. After all, I need a favor and have some knowledge you wouldn't appreciate getting out." One of his fingers was lightly twirling the hair of one of her pigtails, which made her arm twitch in preparation of her planned attack.

In her head, her finger was **just hovering** over the "Initiate" button.

"Half the school already knows my Papa is a male stripper," She said blandly. She had to admit it was kind of funny watching his poker face drop briefly to be replaced with disgusted intrigue. "One of the football player's moms hired him for a bachelorette party for a friend of hers."

"Interesting," He laughed lightly, that strange aura returning,"but not what I had in mind." She glared at him as her mind ran through other possibilities but turned up blank. The only thing she could think of was her crush on Soul, but only Tsubaki, Blair and herself knew about that. "And I'll make sure to keep that secret as long as you agree to meet up with me after school so that I can explain what it is I want in return."

"Fine, but you'll have to make it fast. I have plans with my friend after school," She ground out through clenched teeth. He smiled and stepped back, satisfied with her response.

"Perfect. I'll see you after school, little rabbit," He sneered before walking off. It took Maka's mind a moment before it caught on to what he was implying with his words, what secret of hers it was that he had a hold of. Luckily enough, her loud swears were hidden by the long gong of the school bell.

End

(1) Ebony Kitsune – The word "ebony" means the same as "black" and "kitsune" is Japanese for "fox". Just because she's evil doesn't mean that she can't stick to the fun (terribly expected) nicknames that the other Divas have gifted themselves with.

Notes:

Sorry this update came late. Just started working at a second job, had to pick up shifts at my other job for a sick co-worker, and have had very little me time. On top of that, I was participating in the protest of the over-reaction by so, yeah. I signed the petition and believe that all of you, if you haven't, should. Look it up on Google and you should be able to find it.

Dun dun dun~! That's right, you guys; Liz is an evil agent working with Medusa! What kinds of troubles will this lead to later? And what about Kid? Why does he know so much (and why he be creepin')? All will be revealed… In due time.

Also, I want to marry Tsubaki in this story. She's so much fun~! :D

Next Chapter:

Confrontations turn out terrible and have awkward consequences. Maka gets a wake-up call as to why magical girl anime are unrealistic and cannot be used for reference in the real world. I surprise you all by revealing what Chrona's purpose is for the duration of this story.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter Six: The Big Downer Moment Cliché

The soft chime of the bell above the door jostled him from his thoughts. Pale eyes lit up with glee at the sight of the young woman whom had just walked in. "Hello Liz," He said merrily.

She smiled back lightly and waved. "Hey there, Chrona. Are my pictures developed?" She asked politely. He smiled, pulled up a crate full of white envelopes and started shuffling through. She glanced at a few exchangeable lenses on display by the register. "Are these those new lenses you were telling me about?"

"Oh, yes," He smiled, pulling out an envelope and setting it down. He replaced the crate to its spot under the register and picked up a nearby clipboard. It was the policy of the store that cashiers had to sign a sheet whenever they handed over developed pictures.

Chrona Gorgon was a sweet kind of kid that was rare to find nowadays. Liz had met him years ago when he befriended her younger sister, Patty, which she had found interesting. Patty normally didn't enjoy spending time with meek individuals. However, Chrona was a good kid and was a good best friend to the younger girl.

It was actually Trigger, Chrona's father, whom got her into her hobby of photography as the sister's spent time in their family owned shop.

"They look good," She said as she handed a twenty over to him. While he charged her out she glanced at the pictures_. 'So I'm looking for a girl with blonde hair and green eyes. Shouldn't be too hard to find with the help of Medusa's pets.'_She thought before putting the envelope into her book bag. "But weren't they supposed to come in with the stock yesterday?"

"There was a mistake at the warehouse so the delivery had to take an extra day," He said with a small chuckle. He offered her the change and she dropped it in the little donation box next to the register. "Luckily enough it arrived early this morning."

"That's good, at least," She smiled lightly. She then gave him a little salute and turned toward the door. "Well, I guess I'll see you later."

"Will you tell Patty I said hi?" Her hand froze on the knob. She glanced back at him and he flinched, eyes fixing on the counter top. "I-I-I'm sorry but... Well, it's been so long since she last came in..."

"Don't sweat it," Liz said with a tense smile then walked out. She couldn't tell him that Patty was being held hostage by a space villain. Why worry him when she couldn't soothe him when she herself wasn't calm? When she herself had no idea if her sister was really okay?

...

Maka leaned against the wall on her side of the school fence to avoid running into Soul. She had to talk to Kid and didn't want him to see. She was already nervous because she had decided she needed to tell him how she felt but that, even if he felt the same, she was too swapped with everything (and she would just "forget" to mention her newfound powers) to pursue a relationship. Sure, Sailor Moon had been able to have a romantic relationship despite her powers, but her love interest was Tuxedo Mask. He had powers, too, which made him more than capable of taking care of himself in a crisis.

On top of that, she didn't want Soul having to worry about her when she was battling. That wasn't fair to him.

"Excellent, you're here," Kid's voice snapped her from her musings. She glared at him and took a step closer.

"You didn't leave me much of an option. When you're being blackmailed you sort of just do what you're told," She barked out flatly. He chuckled lightly at her response.

"What a practical way to look at it," He agreed. His golden eyes were lit-up with amusement and satisfaction. She wanted to slap that smug grin right off his face. "Anyway, as I mentioned, I need a favor from you. It actually involves your enemy."

She quirked an eyebrow at him, her arms crossing over her chest. "You mean Medusa?"

"No, not Medusa, one of her subordinates," He clarified. He turned on his heels and took a few steps away from her. His hands found his pockets and his voice suddenly grew very serious. "As I am sure, you've been introduced to Ebony Kitsune?"

"Ugh, her? What about her?" She grumbled bitterly before a thought struck her. She took another step toward him, arms dropping to her sides. "Wait, if you know about her... Do you know who she is? Outside of her transformation?

"I'm not at liberty to disclose that information," He said smoothly. She grabbed his shoulder and yanked hard, spinning him to face her. She was glad to see shock register on his face at the harshness of her stare.

"If you know something like that you had better tell me, or I will show you how proactive I can get when it comes to my job," It wasn't a hollow threat and he knew it. If she was chosen to become a member of something as prestigious as the intergalactic police force she was someone whom could handle herself and be true to her word.

"You take your duties very seriously. I respect that," He said while calmly brushing her hand off. He then straightened out his forest green school blazer, back to being all business. She was glad; she was getting sick of everything testing her patience.

"Considering how this whole deal is affecting my life I think I have a reason to be a little more direct than I normally am," She said patiently. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure there was no sign of Soul just yet. "Okay, spill."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair lightly. "Look, I can't tell you who she really is. What I can say," He met her gaze as he spoke, "is that she's doing this against her will. What I want in exchange for my silence is your promise that you won't hurt Ebony Kitsune."

"That won't be easy, you know," She said blandly. He opened her mouth to respond when they heard a loud whistle.

A turn of the head revealed Soul walking over (how she had missed him just seconds ago when she had turned was beyond her). Her heart skipped a beat and then picked up to twice its normal speed. Why, exactly? It stopped because she had not been expecting his cobalt blue uniform slacks and matching blazer to make him look as good as they did. Soul was a man that, in her opinion, could look damn good in anything he wore. And his uniform… Well, it was much more basic than one would expect of a fancy music school, but damn. It was true that sometimes simplicity was best. But why had it sped back up to double time?

Kid and she were still talking.

"Hey, Maka," He said evenly while glancing at Kid. She could tell by the glint in those garnet irises that he was sizing the other up. And, from what she could tell, Kid was doing the same. "Who's this guy?"

"Death the Kid, but you can call me Kid," The other male stated quickly with a bright, fake smile on his lips. He offered up his hand, which Soul took with only a twitch of surprise. "You must be Soul. Maka has told me a lot about you."

_'Wait what?'_Maka screeched in her head, eye beginning to twitch. She had just met him today! And how did he know who Soul was? Had... Had he actually snooped into what he could learn about her before approaching her?

"Oh, really?" That caught Mr. Cool-Guy's attention. He stole a glance at her, seeing the panic and anger in her bright green eyes. "Only good things I would hope?"

"Oh, just this and that," He shrugged. He then turned his attention to Maka, his smile turning much more devious. "Anyway, just keep what I said in mind, okay, Maka?"

"Whatever," She grumbled bitterly. She was going to get him back for this tomorrow, she swore it. And then, as if just to dig the ditch deeper, he leaned over and kissed her cheek! When he stepped back she slapped a hand over her cheek and started to sputter. She felt her cheeks heat up in a mix of embarrassment and rage.

And then he was walking away, leaving the two staring after him. "Huh... Is he the guy that Tsubaki was talking about yesterday?" Soul chimed in, her attention returning to him.

She didn't notice how Soul's fists were clenching and unclenching at his sides.

"No, he just transferred today and he's a stupid jerk," She growled, glaring at Kid's retreating figure. She shook her head and rubbed at her cheek roughly with her hand. Once she felt it was adequately cleaned, she dropped her hand back to her side and looked at him. "Anyway, let's get going. I've been waiting way too long for this trip."

"Right," He said calmly while turning and starting to walk away. He glanced once more over his shoulder but seemed to shrug the strange new kid off easily after that.

"So what car did you bring?" She asks curiously. Soul's family, being influential musicians, had a substantial amount of money. As such, they had purchased several vehicles to be handled by their sons' when they needed to get from place to place. They wanted to make sure their boys had plenty of options.

"None. I brought the bike," He said and couldn't resist chuckling at the joy that came to her face. "Yeah, I thought you might like that."

"I love it when you take me for rides on The Duchess!" She gushed excitedly, tagging on the name she had given the yellow motorcycle in question.

"You are the coolest nerd on this coast, you know that?" He chuckled lightly. He then shook his head. "No other geek would so much as think about looking at something like my baby. And you? You always beg me to take you on drives!"

"What can I say?" She giggled with a faint blush. She couldn't help but love riding on The Duchess with Soul. The soft purr as they drove down a street, the wind in her hair, holding tight to Soul and breathing in the familiar scent of his leather jacket (since he always wore it back when they went to school together); it all soothed her senses. How many times had she called him and asked him to take her on a drive to escape the ever present heavy air that mulled around her house ever since her mother left? And he always came on The Duchess, because she was quicker than any of the cars (and not just because he could duck and weave through traffic like a lunatic on something as compact as a motorcycle).

He just smiled as he led her to where he had parked his golden beauty while he retrieved her.

...

She had transformed in the alleyway a block from the photography shop, just in case. Once that was done, she used the nearby fire escape ladder to get to the roof. Lady Medusa had given her a transmitter so that she could send a troop of her experiments to her location, but it had to be done with plenty of room; both beside her and above her.

Once the signal was sent it only took about a minute for a nice gaggle of the very specific number of twenty one creatures to head her way. She was giddy when she saw that seven of them were flying-type creatures. This meant that she could divide them into seven squads of three and have one flyer in each.

Lady Medusa clearly was trying to assure her success.

She divided them up into squads and then showed them each the photos she'd gotten of Alabaster Usagi outside of her battle gear. "Look for this girl," She said as she held the pictures up and flashed them around. She made sure to give them each a whole minute to memorize it. "Should you find her, however, do not attack her. Send the flyer of your squad to me. This girl is my target and I have to be there when she gets taken out, so that Lady Medusa knows for sure the deed id done. When I reach her location, I'll send a signal out on my communicator to your tracking chips to let you know. Once you receive that signal, go berserk in whatever area you are in. Understood?"

She knew she didn't really need to ask but she always did. Medusa's creatures may have been made from the parts of various animals but they had a very human-esque mind frame. Like humans, they were capable of learning and processing certain concepts. They understood that Medusa, and anyone she respected, were to be obeyed. They also understood the concept of taking and executing orders.

It was an army that was never at risk to revolt, no matter how they were treated or how many of them died.

"Move out!" She snapped sharply, throwing an arm in the air for dramatic effect. The creatures all tore away with sharp, excited cries. She closed her eyes and let her arm drop to her sides as the horrified screams of the citizens reached her ears.

...

It was nice to unwind and feel like everything was right in the world, however brief it had been. Laughing Skull Café had been an interesting little place that had a strange cross between a gothic feel and trying to look like the Chocolate Factor from that Tim Burton remake released some years back. While the setting had been bizarre, Maka was surprised at how easy it was to slip back into her typical swing with Soul. After being seated, they joked about how their server would most likely be an Oompa Loompa. Between that and placing their order, when they weren't within earshot of their server (a bubbly red-head, they had noted immediately), they even made up a back story for their imaginary little person waiter.

They had decided that his name was Chad, and that he only worked there to pay his way through medical school.

From there, they moved from discussing family life to comparing their situations in regards to school, which inevitably led to discussing their social lives away from one another. Maka confessed that she and Tsubaki had been hanging out pretty much every weekend since they'd met (though Maka made sure to leave out the reason that led to their friendship). "That's cool. Must be nice to have a girlfriend to chat with," He had said before gulping down a spoonful of the supreme banana split they decided to get and share. The server had specifically commented that its size demanded that it be shared and, before Maka could argue, he had said they'd take it.

She tried not to read too much into it, for fear of getting disappointed later.

"It's nice, but I still miss hanging out with you," She remarked softly, taking up a spoonful for herself as well. She could already tell that things were going to get awkward but she couldn't stop from throwing it out there.

"You certainly haven't been acting like it," He pointed out with a quizzical glance. She kept her eyes fixed on their dessert. "It just seems like something's really wrong and instead of talking to me you just cut me out."

"It's... It's all really complicated," She knew that angle would get her nowhere but she still wanted to try it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all.

"It'd be less if you talked to me," He sighed before shoveling another mouthful down his gullet. She said nothing and instead took some more of the cool treat into her mouth as well. The taste was bitter, however, and she lamented opening her mouth so stupidly.

The rest of the trip had been filled with an awkward silence that neither of them had known how to fix. On the walk back to The Duchess, Maka spotted Blair in her cat form a few feet away, sitting on the fence. She could see the excitement and hope shining in her eyes; hope that her young blonde underling was going to take the plunge, like she had said she was going to. _'I guess it's now or never,'_She thought before taking a deep breath. She grabbed his sleeve and gave a small tug. "Can we talk for just a sec?"

"What's up?" He asked, turning to fully face her.

"I need to say something really important and… And I just need you to wait until I finish to say anything, okay?" The words came tumbling out of her mouth in a nervous, jumbled mess. While she tried to keep up her confidence, it was hard. She stole a quick glance at him, seeing the concern in his eyes, and she forced her gaze to stay there. "I've needed to say this for a really long time but I've been afraid. I mean, all these years I have been watching my parents marriage fall apart. All these years I've heard people say how it's tragic, because they were high school sweethearts and worked together oh-so-well. Nobody… Not my parents, not my grandparents, no one in my extended family, seemed to care about what I felt watching everything crumble down. They just cared about reputations and what the neighbors thought.

But you… You always cared… You were always there for me. You've always been my best friend, more loyal and strong than anyone else I've ever met, and I… At one point I came to feel a lot more for you. I… I've been afraid to say this because of my parents, watching what they went through, but I don't want to keep it inside anymore. I know this is going to ruin everything but I just want to say it… I just want to say that…

I love you, Soul Evans…"

She could feel her own body shaking but she held his gaze, swallowing back the pain at the panic she saw in his deep burgundy orbs. She had known he didn't feel that way, so why did it feel like someone was dragging a cheese grater across her heart? "Maka, I-!" His words were cut off by a loud screech before Maka felt a heavy weight rush into her stomach.

All the air was knocked out of her between the first blow and then the force of hitting the ground with the dead weight pressing down on her. She took in gulps of air just as she felt claws being pressed into her neck. She cracked one eye, her vision starting to clear after being knocked around, to see what she could only call a griffin keeping her pressed down. _'Medusa's starting to take from mythology now?'_ She thought while trying to figure out a plan of attack.

Luckily for her, she had a touch of back up. "Pum~Pum~Pumpkin!" There was a quick flash of light and then the creature was sent spinning off of her. Blair landed in front of her, gripping the rim of her hat to readjust it more snuggly on her head. "Ebony Kitsune, for your crimes of treachery and insubordination, I will be taking you into custody now!"

The other snorted lightly, peach colored orbs narrowing to a glare. "Oh, please. I can take you out with the greatest of ease, pussycat," She said in a dull, bored tone. The other responded by pulling her collar down and having it transform into its weapon form. "You three take care of the girl! I'll handle Busty McCatnip here!"

The monsters eagerly followed their leader's orders while Blair charged at her young, rebellious charge. Maka started to try and scramble to her feet as one of them lunged but was saved by Soul. He was brandishing a crowbar (where he found it she could only guess) and brought it right into the beast's jaw. "Soul, get out of here!" She cried sharply, forcing her knobby knees to remain steady. Her ribs hurt like no other and she worried that she had broken something. Instead of listening to her, he grabbed her wrist and started dragging her back to his bike with him.

"Not without you!" He growled back. He skid to a stop, causing her to bump right into him with a small yelp of pain. One of the beasts (a strange creature with the body of a horse, snakes substituting its mane and the head of a piranha without its gills) was standing right between them and their ticket to an attempted escape. "Shit!" He growled, preparing his weapon to deal out another blow.

Maka was about to transform, consequences be damned, when she heard a screech and turned to see the griffin creatures rushing for her again. She tensed up, the soft spark of her new form starting up, when she was thrown back and hit the ground. She looked up just in time to see what remained of her world come tumbling down.

It seemed to all shift at this point. It felt as if she was trapped in slow motion, and muted, while she could see it happening in real time. She couldn't even hear her own horrified scream as the creature's claw found purchase in Soul's chest just a few inches from his shoulder and drag along to his opposing hip bone. She rushed to catch him as his body slumped, falling first to his knees as the shock started to subside and let the pain kick in. She caught him as he fell back, letting his body slump into her own and pressing his head to her shoulder. She was screaming and sobbing variations of his name but she still couldn't hear a word of it.

All she could focus on was his eyes, wide open, staring at nothing in unexplainable pain.

Blair and Kit halted their battle when they heard the cries and looked over. They both gasped, and Blair darted over in a matter of seconds. She dropped beside her charge and snatched up her purse, dialing the number for emergency services. Kit watched on, eyes fixed on her opponent shattering completely over her… Friend? Lover? Brother? She wasn't exactly sure; she hadn't really researched into her human side other than her picture.

"Retreat!" She cried suddenly, turning her back and hopping on the griffin's back and letting it fly her away with the others pursuing on the ground.

Blair watched her go while hanging up after being assured that an ambulance would be there in mere seconds. Something told her that her superior's were not going to happy with this new update.

…

She executed every single one of her monster army. She had told them that they would be practicing their techniques since she was disappointed in what she had seen. She told them to make sure to only leave bruises and small cuts. She looked over herself and nodded as she pulled the trigger on the last creature, watching as it disappeared in a plume of grey smoke. She then gathered most of the golden spheres that had been used to solidify their forms to take back to Medusa.

When she reached the base she explained that the trio had attacked her and taken the monsters out before she could deal out any serious damage. She knew that Medusa wasn't keeping as close a tab on her since she feared what could happen if she resisted. When you had someone's sister hostage, to be executed whenever you wanted, they were typically more than willing to do your bidding. She explained everything and Medusa seemed to take it well enough. "I understand, Elizabeth," She said while taking back the small collection of gold. The other nodded calmly and turned to leave. "She's a traitor."

"What did you say, Lady Medusa?" Free asked in alarm from his spot beside her.

"She's a traitor. She was lying to me," She said calmly, settling into her throne-like seat. She chuckled and rolled the gold she had been returned in her palms. "But we won't kill her sister… No, not just yet. I have something better in mind." She giggled darkly.

Nobody could cross Medusa and get away with it.

End

Notes:

So… Yeah, I'm just going to step over there to avoid the dangerous waves of hate I can feel brewing out there. :I

Also, in regards to Maka's Diva name, it's still Alabaster Usagi. It's just that I had actually written up to the last chapter before I ever even uploaded the story (because I like to be ahead in case of writer's block later on in a story. I do read every chapter before I post it, to assure I still like the flow and try to find any grammatical issues, and add the notes right before I upload it so the notes are accurate as well.) and forgot to go through and change "Pallid" to "Alabaster" in the last chapter. Sorry about that little bit of confusion, but it shouldn't happen again.

Next Chapter:

Blair learns the art of standing up for yourself against your bosses (while making sure not to get your sorry ass fired). When push comes to shove, Maka finds that pity parties are ineffective at releasing one of their grief and guilt; potentially beating the ever-loving shit out of the one who caused it, though, is a nice solution. Group epiphanies serve to only make one feel worse about themselves and their accomplishments.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter Seven: The "Friendship is Power" Cliché

"Maka, are you okay?" Spirit asked for the umpteenth time in the last hour. She didn't answer and just stared at her door from across the room, huddled into herself on her bed. Blair was sitting on the windowsill in her cat form, watching her young charge worriedly. She was still wearing her school uniform, drenched in Soul's blood. Her cheeks were still red from when Mrs. Evans had slapped her a few times at the hospital, screaming hysterically at her to get out of there and never come anywhere near their family again. And her body was still shaking as if she was sobbing, though there were no more tears or sounds coming from her. "Okay, well, I'll leave a plate in the microwave for you if you get hungry, okay?" He called softly before he walked away to leave his daughter to her privacy again.

Blair hopped down from the window and calmly walked over, resting a paw on the younger girl's knee lightly. It was hard to look into those hollow jade eyes, but she forced herself to do it. "Maka, why don't you go wash up? Bu-Tan will get the blood out of your clothes for you while you freshen up," She suggested delicately, making sure her tone was quiet and submissive. She knew that the young girl was a muddled mess right now and didn't want to be the one to push her over the edge.

The other disappeared into the bathroom adjacent to her room without so much as a peep. Once she heard the water start running the young cat slipped in and gathered up the outfit. There wasn't much blood on the shirt, when she looked at it. There was a large spot of it along the bottom, most likely where it met with Maka's skirt, but that was it. The skirt was in a similar position, too, so that would be an easy enough fix with a little bit of elbow grease and magic. The socks, however, were a lost cause and would be best off tossed. There was only so much her magic could do but these socks were stained from the top, where Maka's knees would have been, about halfway down.

That poor boy had been bleeding like a stuck pig, after all.

She transformed into her human form and set the shirt and skirt on the bed, muttering her small spell as she twirled her finger above them both. Four small pumpkin men appeared, two holding little scrub brushes that were reminiscent of a toothbrush and the other two holding little buckets with soapy froth sticking out from the top. "I want you to clean up these two things, okay? Make them look like brand new," She said seriously, smiling lightly when they went to work with little salutes of their thin, vine-like arms.

She then turned her attention to the other two tasks laid before her; talking to Tsubaki and talking to her bosses. She shuddered at the thought of talking to her bosses so she instead opted for going with her avian apprentice first. She picked up Maka's cell phone, located the other woman's number and then clicked her name. She tapped her nails along Maka's desk while waiting for a response.

It didn't take long.

"Maka, are you okay? I heard what happened from Black*Star!" The other said frantically. She smiled lightly.

"She's taking a shower right now, Tsubaki. It's me, Blair," She said patiently. The other made a small noise of concern and she shifted her gaze to the bathroom door. "She's really shaken up because of all of this. I don't think she'd be very good on patrols for the next few days so we'll have to handle it on our own nyah."

"I don't blame her," Tsubaki said lightly. She leaned back on her bed, wrapping an arm around the pillow she had pulled against her chest. This was all so… Well, it was hard. She and Maka had been aware that Medusa meant to wreck havoc and pain on the human race, and they had seen her monsters firsthand, but a person had never actually been hurt. And while the torture of the animals was always hard to think about, they were always changed into horrific beasts when they got to them. They never had to see the left over parts unfit for use. "So how shall we be handling things, then?"

"I… I want us to try and handle Ebony Kitsune while Maka's out of commission. I don't want her to have to relive what happened today," Blair sighed lightly.

"I agree. I don't think that Ebony Kitsune's going to slacken her attacks any time soon. I just wonder… How did she know where to attack? And how did she know she was after Maka?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself. I'll have to see how things go with… my supervisors," She swallowed at the thought. Oh, she was going to be in so much trouble with them! As soon as she explained there was a human casualty and that one of her Divas was left too emotionally troubled to pick her weapon back up just yet she was pretty sure that there would be harsh words. "Well, I'll let you go so you can rest up and all. I'll update you on everything else tomorrow when we head out to patrol, okay?"

"Not a problem. Good luck, Blair," She said before hanging up.

Blair placed Maka's cell phone on her charger for her before removing her collar and clicked the button that would allow it to transform into its communicator form. "It's now or never nyah," She sighed heavily before clicking the little button on the screen that would commence the call.

The screen flickered white for a moment before it focused on her superiors, watching the screen with interest. "It's nice to see you've found the time to call us today, Blair. We were expecting a status update from you a few hours ago. Care to explain the reason for your delay?" One spoke up in her usual refined and harsh tone. Blair's ears flattened lightly.

"Pardon me, Detective Azusa, but today has been especially hard," She said lightly. She made sure not to add "Not to mention it isn't like any of you three are actually down here giving me a hand". That, of course, would be out of line and could get her in tons of trouble. "There was an… incident today."

"Oh? A break in the issues involving the Ebony Kitsune, I would hope?" Detective Azusa answered back, an almost knowing note to her tone. She had never liked the other; she was too straight laced, too no-nonsense, to appreciate a free spirit like Blair.

Then again, if Blair was more serious about her duties, maybe this wouldn't have happened in the first place. If she had been more serious about tracking down the rest of their team before starting in on the training than maybe they could have gotten to Ebony Kitsune first. And then this wouldn't have happened to Soul, and Maka wouldn't be where she was at. "She… Is still working for Medusa," She sighed finally, looking down. She heard the other three individuals make noises of disapproval. "And there was a human injured in the conflict. My first charge, Maka Albarn, has not taken it well. She is too rattled to be put out in the field safely."

"So you'll be running with only one officer? Blair, do you think this is a game?" The other snapped harshly.

"No, I don't! I know that this is a serious mission but I also have to think of what is best for the people working under me!"She barked back, glaring up at the other. The look of surprise she received fueled her fire even more. "Because, though you seem to have forgotten, they are people with emotions working under me. I have to keep their emotional and mental stability in mind; pushing her while she is so vulnerable will only make her worse for wear. My other charge, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, also doesn't mind picking up the slack until Maka is well enough to get back to work. If neither one of us has a problem with taking on more work than I do not see why it should bother you so much."

"There's been a new development, Blair," One of her other commander's said carefully, stepping forward.

"What does that mean, Detective Mjolnir?" She asked skeptically.

The other sighed lightly while crossing her arms over her chest. "We've been picking up strange, different readings," She said gently. Detective Azusa glared off to the side and the two women glanced at their leader. She nodded her head, indicating that they continue. "There are two very different power sources acting up at different places in the city."

"Are they perhaps Ebony Kitsune and the one whom inherited the Golden Tiger? They may be reacting to one another," The golden eyed woman suggested hopefully.

"No, they are far too different from the readings that we get from the powers given to your Divas," Detective Mjolnir continued on. What could this mean, though? Medusa was the only threat on earth, wasn't she? "One of them is similar to one we get off of Medusa's creatures; meaning one of them is Medusa-made. But the other… It's hard to place. The signal is somewhat similar to the one our recruits would let out but… Well, it isn't one of ours. It is not the proper signature from one of the four powers we were given clearance to unleash."

"How long has it been showing up?"

"From what we can tell, it's been here since we showed up, at least," Mjolnir said. She walked over to a nearby cabinet, pulled out a folder, and started flipping through. She suddenly stopped on a page and tapped it with her index finger. "Yes, the signal appeared at first when we sent out the meteorites but we figured it was just a glitch on the screen. It appears that, whatever it is, has been taking out Medusa's creatures just as well as you have."

"What? How is that possible?" Blair asked frantically.

"We aren't sure, but it has certainly made things easier for you," Detective Azusa chimed in suddenly, turning to look at her again. It seemed she'd gotten back her annoyance. "While you've been fooling around and shirking your duties, they have been picking up the slack. How about instead of training in the shadows you actually give your rookies field practice? Maybe if you had this wouldn't be a problem right now."

"Yumi, please!" Detective Mjolnir snapped quickly, giving the other a small punch in the arm. Blair felt smugly satisfied when the other stumbled and released a pained noise. "Anyway, Blair, let us know as soon as you have any more information about the Golden Tiger's location or anything new with the Ebony Kitsune. Until then, just focus on helping your team."

"Thank you, Detective Mjolnir," She said with a weak smile before they hung up. She let out another long sigh, placed her collar back on and changed back into her cat form. She perked up as the bathroom door opened and Maka walked out, wrapped in her fluffy yellow bathrobe. "Feel a little better nyah?" Blair asked meekly.

Maka made a small noise and fell face first on her bed.

Blair hopped down from the desk and trotted over quickly. Maka shifted her head so that she could meet the other's gaze. "It will be okay, Maka," Blair said softly while hopping up beside her. She lightly nudged into Maka's arm and curled up against her. Maka's fingers started lightly smoothing through the other's silky indigo fur. "Bu-Tan promises it'll all be okay." She said, closing her eyes tightly and trying to plan out her next move.

Either way, it was going to have to be something big, to say the least.

…

The next three days were tough for all of the Divas. Maka was far too upset to even go to school, not that Blair blamed her. Tsubaki was trying her best to be okay with doing the work of two but it was a challenge. Though Ebony Kitsune had not yet jumped back into the fray, it seemed that Medusa was back to letting Free use his tactic of "smash everything in sight". And she even trusted him with another small force of her little beasts every time!

Either Medusa was starting to lose it or the duo needed to start seriously gearing up for a huge attack; luckily enough, she recognized to be more prepared than usual.

"Okay, she's gotta be planning something big," Blair said from her perch on Tsubaki's shoulder. Since it was a Friday, and the inky haired young woman had just gotten out of class, they decided to try and get a sweet treat for Maka, to try and cheer her up. It was also because, though she didn't want to, Blair recognized that she was going to have to get her young charge back out there helping with the battles. "So we need to plan something big, too. If we could find out what was up with Ebony Kitsune, if there was a way to get her back on our side, that could be a great development. She'd know information that we've only dreamt of having up until this point nyah!"

"But we should also talk with Maka and get her opinion," The meeker woman chimed in lightly, her arms tightening a little bit on the pink cardboard box she was carrying. She had decided to get a new, special sweet treat she'd though Maka would like; cheesecake with a fudge brownie crust! She remembered the young blonde mentioning she especially liked cheesecake and this seemed like the ultimate comfort surprise. "After what happened with those monsters Ebony Kitsune brought with her, she'll probably be very resistant to working with her."

"Sadly, Maka's feelings are going to have to be put off to the side for now," Blair sighed lightly. Her tail flicked from side to side with anxiety. "I mean, Ebony Kitsune is a Diva the same as you two. Just because she's brainwashed by Medusa doesn't mean that she can't become a noble, loyal teammate once we get our hands on her."

"I understand but I still think we should be careful. I mean, this whole thing has led to the Evans deciding Soul and Maka can no longer be around one another," She said sadly. Tsubaki had been going by the hospital every day to check on Soul and overheard Mr. and Mrs. Evans discussing it outside of his room. The worst part, to the young girl, was that when she'd told Maka this little bit of news she had said that she understood and would do what they wanted. "And if he really knows how she feels it'll either be really good or really bad."

"That's true. She never had the chance to hear his response," The other sighed as Tsubaki headed up the steps leading to the front door. Hopefully Maka would be willing to leave her room and answer the door. Otherwise Blair would have to climb in through the window and let Tsubaki in herself; not as easy as it sounded, despite the other being able to turn into a cat.

The other knocked on the door lightly and was greeted by a red haired man wearing a very effeminate pink cooking apron. "Um, hello. Is Maka here?" Tsubaki asked nervously, blinking a few times. Was this really Maka's father? The other had made him sound like a charming player, but she couldn't think of a single man whom had any kind of luck or interest in the ladies that would wear **that**.

"Are you one of my sweet Maka's friends?" He asked excitedly, eyes wide with hope. The other blinked and then nodded shyly. "Oh, thank goodness! I've been so worried that her only friend was that stupid octopus-headed jerk!"

"Yes, well, is she here?" She repeated patiently.

"Ah, right! No, I'm afraid Maka left a little while ago. She said she needed to take a walk and do some thinking," He said, quickly growing serious again. He then snapped his fingers and smiled. "But she couldn't have gotten far. There's a park just a few blocks away that she goes to when she's really upset about something. She likes the view she gets from there."

"Okay, thank you very much, sir," She said politely before walking away. Just as the door shut again, Blair's collar started chiming. The cat plucked the charm off, clicked the button and checked what it was trying to alert her to.

"Oh, no! Ebony Kitsune's back out and about!" She gasped, eyes filling with horror. Her bosses had sent her a new upgrade that would allow her to more accurately track her charges when they were separated. It was also loaded with the information on the bizarre reading they'd been discussing before but she hadn't gotten a hit on that yet. Her tail suddenly fluffed out and she released a horrified yowl, making Tsubaki squeal in surprise. "Run, Tsubaki, run! She's close to where Maka's at!"

…

She had been sitting on the swings when she had heard a worried voice from behind her chime, "How is your friend doing?" As soon as her mind placed it, she was off the swing, transformed, and wielding her scythe. They were lucky that they were alone, or else her cover would have been totally blown.

Not that she was really worried about that right now.

"How dare you," She snarled lowly. Kit opened her mouth then sighed and looked off to the side, one arm at her side and the other clenching the opposite elbow. Maka blinked a few times as she registered that the other wasn't toting her guns; no, they were still in their ribbon form. She slowly dropped her weapon but left the scowl on her lips. "I heard something interesting, about you. I want to know if it's true."

"That depends. I may feel bad about what happened to your boyfriend but that doesn't mean I'm at liberty to reveal anything to you," The other responded in a guarded tone of voice. The little she-rabbit decided that she'd hand that one to the vixen.

"Someone told me you were doing this against your will," She said slowly. She felt a little gratified at the horrified look on the other's face and how she paled. Well, that clearly was a sign; of what, however, she wasn't exactly sure. "So, is it true or are you really just a bad seed? Because I need someone to take all my pent-up frustration out on and you seem like a very likely candidate."

"It's true," She sighed, finally. She glared at the ground, feeling weak and stupid. She never should have told Kid what was going on, regardless of how long they had known each other! She should have expected him to do something like this, thinking it would help her. "Medusa has my sister, and is threatening to kill her if I don't do as she says. So when she says jump, I say how high. When she says attack, I ask when and where. And when she tells me to kill the other Divas…"

"You ask how and when," Maka finished flatly. She tightened her grip on her weapon, resisting the urge to launch into an attack. She could easily lay a blow on her and see what she really looked like, know who Ebony Kitsune really was under the ears and tail. It was only fair, since the other knew who she was, right? But still… She couldn't bring it in her to really hate the other.

"He wasn't supposed to get hurt, you know," Kit sighed lightly. When all she got was an icy stare she shook her head and held up her hands defensively. "Look, I know that doesn't change anything but it's the truth. I hadn't… I didn't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Well, at least he'll be safe from now on," The silver haired woman said sadly. She returned her scythe to its ribbon form, to show that there was no more threat of physical altercation. "His parents don't want him to have anything to do with me anymore. They say I'm just a piece of low-life trash that has done nothing but drag him down."

Kit made a face at this. "I'm sorry. It must be hard, given that you love him," She said meekly. Maka's cheeks flamed to life and she looked at her in shock.

"How did you-?"

"I kinda overheard your little confession… Sorry about that," She said with a nervous laugh. She then kicked a small stone a few feet away from her. "So, what now? Should we fight or…?"

"Well, I think it would be best if we went and got Blair and Tsubaki. We're going to need a ton of help with this," She said with a casual shrug. Kit blinked and quirked an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

"Rescuing your sister, of course," The other said blandly, peering around her. She then smirked lightly when she saw the fast approaching Blair and Tsubaki. "Ah, excellent! There they are!"

"Maka, don't do anything that'll get me in trouble nyah! It may feel nice for now but it won't when you're covered in Ebony Kitsune's blood and I'm getting yelled at by superiors again!" Blair called over frantically.

"You really wanted to kick my ass, didn't you?" Kit asked flatly.

Maka giggled lightly. "Oh, I wanted to mount your head on my wall! But, I figure I should at least give you a chance to prove you mean what you say, right?" She asked, turning to face the other. She held her hand out. "So, do you agree? We help you save your sister and then you agree to help us take Medusa down?"

"How… How can you be so forgiving? Your friend could have died!" The other said, holding one of her hands close to her chest. This had to be a joke, or a trap, or both! No one was this nice, this accepting.

"She has a point nyah. You still can't forgive your father for cheating on your mom," Blair pointed out as the duo reached them. Maka glared at her lightly, to which the cat merely twitched her whiskers. "It's not my fault you get loud when you and your father fight nyah."

"I **can't** forgive him because he **chose** to do what he did," Maka sighed lightly. The others just stared at her silently. "Look, my Papa knew that what he was doing was going to hurt my Mama. But, still knowing that, he decided that he preferred sleeping around. That's the reason she left and the reason that I can't let go. He always says how much he loves Mama and I, but he did that. Ebony Kitsune, though… You did this to protect someone, and you are truly remorseful that someone got seriously hurt. I mean, nobody else has been hurt yet, right?"

"Actually," Tsubaki said thoughtfully, "you have a point there. There have been tons of people scared by Medusa's monsters but we've been doing a pretty good job of fending them off. What happened to Soul was the only time a citizen ever got hurt in the crossfire."

"Yeah," Maka sighed lightly, ears drooping down. Blair hopped on to her shoulder and started purring comforting words. They had just gotten Maka back out in the world! She could not lose her again to her teenage angst! "Anyway, like I said, you seem to mean it when you say you're sorry. So I want to give you the chance to prove you mean it."

Ebony Kitsune blinked then looked down. "Do you really think we can take Medusa down?"

"As long as we work together, I think we can accomplish anything!" Maka said with a determined smile, holding her hand out face down toward the young woman. Tsubaki nodded her agreement, transformed into the Scarlet Tori, and placed her hand atop Maka's. They watched her, eyes alight with hope and warmth.

Finally, with a small smile, Ebony Kitsune put her hand on top.

End

Notes:

Things be heatin' up, guys! Also, had to throw in the "friendship" remark Maka made. It's in all magical girl anime (and tons of others). And trust me, this isn't the last time this Cliché will be rearing its ugly head. :3

Also, before anyone comments, it is not out of character for Maka to be able to forgive Liz/Kit so easily for what happened to Soul. Evidence? She forgave Chrona pretty well in the original series, too. Yes, that was after looking into his soul and really understanding him, but, as she explains in this chapter, Liz is apologetic. And she opens up as to what her reasons really were. Just wanted to clarify.

Lastly, I am going to resort to some bribary here, guys. If I can reach 80 reviews by chapter 12, I will release a preview of one of the two closest upcoming fics I'll be releasing (since I've started a little bit of writing for both of them). You can vote on which one you'd like the preview for on my profile; you can vote up until chapter 11. :3

Next Chapter:

The fourth member of the team is revealed and I… Think that every single one of you will have seen it coming from a mile away. Rescue mission time and things go in a very interesting way! Medusa shows some new-age thinking that she's hoping will be more productive in taking out the Divas.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter Eight: The Eccentric Teammate Cliché

Ebony Kitsune led them to Medusa's base of operations… Or, at least, the building that housed the teleportation device that would get them there. Maka blinked a few times as they stood on the roof of the building across the street from them. "You… You've got to be kidding me," She said flatly.

Kit shook her head. "No, it's the truth. I was honestly surprised you guys hadn't thought of it before, given Medusa warned me that Fluffy here knew a lot about her plans and processes," She explained, indicating the cat on Maka's head.

"Hey! I resent that remark!" She hissed angrily. Maka just smacked her forehead and let out a groan. Tsubaki watched with a worried frown but decided not to say anything.

How did they not realize that Medusa, whom needed **gold** to make her monsters, would probably start working out of something as obvious as **a gold-buyer's store**?

"Either way, you said that the teleporter is in the back, right?" Maka asked, turning to their new recruit. She nodded and pointed toward the small alleyway between Medusa's store and the one next door to it.

"It's hidden back there, between the stores and closer to Medusa's place. If you don't know which bricks to tap and in what order, though, you can't get in," She said before clearing her throat. She took a step forward, turned to face them, and swallowed hard. "Are you sure you want to do this? We're still pretty weak, and we've never worked together… We're going into the belly of the beast. Are you sure you can hang with that?"

"Of course. We just have to last long enough to go in, save your sister, and then get back out, right?" The little rabbit asked with a large grin.

Kit blinked then smiled lightly. "You make it sound so easy," She said, a touch of admiration in her tone. Maka rubbed the back of her head and giggled lightly. She always got embarrassed when people gave her compliments.

"Uh, g-guys! Incoming!" Tsubaki suddenly yelped, pointing upward suddenly. The two turned and looks up, eyes widening at the sight before them.

"Medusa!" Blair snarled angrily when she locked eyes on the two figures hovering close by.

It appeared that Medusa had been preparing for them, given that she was standing on the head of what could only be called a huge pitch black dragon. She was wearing a tight black sleeveless dress with dark purple arrows going this way and that. On top was a matching cape and in her hands with a large golden staff with a crystal ball at the top. Her eyes were a deep, rich honey color that matched with her long, golden braid perfectly. It was strange, though, that her braid was in the front.

Maybe she just couldn't braid it if she couldn't see what she was doing?

"Ah, Ebony Kitsune, I had such high hopes for you!" The other sighed lightly, cupping the side of her face in one hand. She shook her head and took a few steps farther down the snarling, flying beasts head until she stood solely on the muzzle. She then pointed her staff at her, the crystal ball starting to glow a bright white light. "However, I guess I should give you your pink slip, shouldn't I?"

The beam of light it released landed on the ground a few feet from the Divas, but they jumped back and out of the way. When the smoke cleared, they spotted four little golden balls on the ground. Just as they transformed into smaller versions of the dragon Medusa arrived on, Blair transformed into her own human form. "Okay, girls, focus on taking these little buggers out and then we'll go after their Big Brother!" She ordered while transforming her collar into its naginata form.

The other girls followed suited and nodded in unison.

Clearly Medusa had made some alterations to her designs, because one quick cut wasn't enough anymore. Normally just lopping off a limb or prodding it anywhere in the torso area would be good enough but as soon as Maka lopped one wing off of her enemy, a new one sprouted. "What the-?" She gasped right before its tail slapped her over the edge of the building. She turned around, landing her feet on the ground, and bouncing up just high enough to barely grasp a pole protruding from the building, keeping the sign up. She perked up and looked down, noting the crowd of humans gathering around outside the coffee shop to watch. "Hey, unless you all want to get seriously hurt or splattered in mutant alien beast blood you should probably get out! And tell the people inside to evacuate, too, because I have no idea how much damage we'll cause!" She snapped strictly.

An officer, whom had been among the onlookers, choked on his coffee and then immediately started snapping orders at the civilians, reaching for his walkie-talkie to phone it in.

'_Geez. I don't remember the police force in this city being so… Irresponsible, I guess?'_ She thought as she steadied herself on the pole. She glanced up, seeing that Tsubaki and her opponent had taken to the sky and were laying into one another from up there. She then took a deep breath, hoped for the best, and jumped up so that she was able to grasp the edge of the roof. _'Or maybe I'm just being too judgmental. I mean, they aren't necessarily equipped to deal with this… Or are they? Would regular bullets and tear gas work on these things, or are these powers just sort of standard issue?'_

"Maka, look out!" Blair cried, alerting Maka to the fact that the very same beast that had knocked her over the edge was coming to do it again. This time, however, the spunky young crime fighter was prepared. When it went to whip her with its tail, she grabbed on and held on for all she was worth.

It let out a startled noise and looked at her with large yellow eyes.

"Heh, thought you'd do it twice, huh? Too bad for you I'm not that stupid, huh?" She laughed, smirking at the beast. She made sure to tuck its tail beneath one of her arms to keep in place and lifted her scythe with the other. "Now, how about we play ni-Eyah!"

It appeared that the dragon had another idea, since it took off into the air the minute it saw the blade. With Maka still latched on for dear life.

"Damnit," She grumbled angrily, forcing her weapon back into ribbon form. With her other hand freed again, she started climbing up the little monster's back until she was settled on it safely. She glanced around at the view of the sky and the buildings, smiling lightly. "Wow! This is a wonderful view, I must admit!" She laughed happily.

The dragon looked back at her in alarm, stunned to see that she had managed to get on so easily. Sure, it had noticed her moving, but it had figured that the height would stun her enough for her to lose grip! It let out a small, annoyed grumbling noise and flew straight toward a window on a nearby building. If she wasn't going to make it easy, than it would play her game just fine!

Blue eyes spotted where it was suddenly heading and she came up with a plan of her own. She turned her ribbon back into its weapon form and quickly pressed the pole to the beast's neck, holding the shaft on either end to tilt its head back. If it couldn't see, she could at least try to redirect it. She was successful, as instead of ramming into the window, the beast flew at an off angle and its tail merely slammed into the window, shattering it and startling the office worker on the other side. "I'll give you an A for effort, but you still fail on the actual test of it all," She mumbled with a small huff, looking up through her bangs.

Things were not looking good. Ebony Kitsune was still fighting, but it was clear that she was wearing down to the wire. Blair was also still struggling, but the dragon she was fending off had her pinned down. A quick glance to the air showed that Tsubaki was being held up by one of her wings, face contorted in pain, by what had been her enemy.

Medusa smirked, then snapped her fingers and the dragons in the air halted their movements. In one quick sweeping motion, the dragon dealing with Blair slammed her down hard, making her yelp but stop squirming as much. At the same instance, Kit found herself pinned on her belly. The dragon grabbed a mouthful of her hair and jerked, forcing her to face its creator.

"Well, you certainly aren't much of a challenge for my newest batch of beasts," She said, disappointed. She chuckled lightly as Free walked out, dragging a bound, screaming and swearing figure along with him. "I thought that adding a special regrowth serum like the one I gave Free here was a good idea, but I never thought that you Divas would be left so completely clueless on how to handle yourselves. It's certainly been a fun ride, but I think it's about time we get started on the curtain calls, don't you?"

"Patty!" Kit cried frantically, eyes wide and horrified. The girl Free was leading along by shackles and chain looked like she'd endured Hell. Her shoulder length golden locks looked filthy and unkempt. There were bags under her eyes and bruises on her face, indicating she'd put up a struggle and been beaten for her troubles. From what could be seen from the tears in her school uniform (more aftermath of her fight), she was thin and in dire need of a hot meal.

"Say bye-bye~!" Medusa laughed loudly, tossing one hand into the air. Taking it as his signal, Free then tossed the shackled young woman over the side of the dragons head.

Maka gasped, ignoring Kit's horrified shrieks, and tried to navigate the damned monster she was on to fly toward her using her choke-and-tug method. Sadly, it appeared that it wasn't going to work a second time. Instead, the monster started making her struggle like a drunkard riding a rodeo bull. She growled before deciding that she was done with this. She turned her blade and dug it into the beast's chest, where she hoped its heart would be.

When it released a pained cry and its body went tense, she assumed she'd been right. Just before it started to plummet toward the ground, she released the staff of her scythe for her next move. It was going to be tricky, and trying to dislodge the stuck blade would only take precious seconds she could not afford. She dug her feet into the creature's body and sent herself sailing through the air at Kit's plummeting sister. _'If I was able to save Soul like this once, than I can do it again!'_ She thought desperately, arms outstretched to pull the other toward her as she got closer.

Just before she could reach the other, however, a shimmering flash rushed past her and took hold of Patty. Maka quickly regained herself after the second of surprise, and did a quick flip so that she could face the ground and land properly. She glanced a few feet away and gasped in slight joy.

Specifically, she was smiling upon sight of the animal ears and tail the other was sporting.

Slowly, they shifted and set Patty down safely under a street lamp, the poor thing having fainted from a mix of fear and exhaustion. When they turned again, Maka was able to better assess the other. Short strawberry blonde hair in a bob cut, reaching to about where their ears would be outside of their transformed persona and green eyes that seemed a few shades lighter than Maka's when she was powered down. They had rounded tiger ears and matching tail, but instead of orange and black strips they were gold and black. Lastly, Maka assessed the others actual battle attire.

It was a black dress with thin sky blue straps on the other's shoulders. The torso portion was black and there was a large blue bow around the waist, leading to the equally black and short skirt. It was almost identical to Maka's own skirt, only it was pure black with just a little of light blue lace on the edges of the skirt. Yet again; was Maka the only one whose outfit had stockings to keep her legs from view? Lastly, she noticed that the outfit was finished off with blue heels that had little black bows on the top. All in all, the outfit was just as ridiculous and impractical as the rest of the things the other Divas wore for monster slaying.

Maka was starting to get an inkling that the intergalactic space force was run by a bunch of men with a similar thought process to her father.

"So you're our fourth member?" She asked with a smile. The other looked uncomfortable for a moment before nodding and heading over to the nearest building. The blue bow around her waist disappeared and reformed as eight small throwing knives. "Oh, were you planning to climb back to the top? I can just carry you up myself. I'm… Kinda good at jumping." She giggled lightly, holding out her hand.

The new teammate looked at her for a moment, shifted their gaze back to their knives, then let out a breath through their nose and nodded. She returned her weapons to ribbon form and let Maka hop up to the top with her in her arms, bridal style. The other looked a touch flustered and mortified, but Maka couldn't blame her; she knew what it was like to have to be carried by another Diva. She got them up to the roof again and looked over at the sobbing wreck that was Kit. The dragons had released all the other Divas and the trio was huddled together, Blair tending Tsubaki's injured wing. "Your sister's safe, thanks to the new girl," She called over with a smile.

All three looked up in disbelief at her before Blair let out an excited squeal. She then turned to Medusa with a large grin. "Ha! It's your worst nightmare, Medusa! Now that the Golden Tora (1) is here, you don't stand a chance against all the Divas joined together!"

"Maybe not today, but I will soon enough," Medusa said calmly. She looked at Free then tapped her heels on the dragon's head. "It's time to go, dear."

"Lady Medusa, why don't we just stay here and fight? I mean, we could probably still beat them," Free said with a confused frown.

"Oh, Free, you clearly don't understand how to be a successful villain," She said with a tired sigh. She was not looking forward to all the time she was about to have to give up, and could feel a headache brewing. After all, her newest upgrade wasn't quite ready. "Besides, it's just not very sportsman-like to go after your opponent unprepared. This time we gave them time to assemble and make a strike against us, but now they're all jumbled up. There would be no fun in it now."

"I… I **don't** understand," He said, blinking in disbelief.

"And that is why you will never receive a promotion, Free," She said just before the dragon took off toward the sky, its three remaining kin close behind.

The Divas quickly abandoned the roof and returned to the ground. Maka went to retrieve her weapon while Kit rushed to her sister's side. Golden Tora stood just behind her, peering over her shoulder worriedly. "It looks like they did a big evacuation to give us more room for the battle; there's no one left," Tsubaki remarked calmly.

"Power down, then. We should be fine in civilian mode," Blair said calmly. Her first two charges did so easily enough and she, as per her usual, returned to her cat form. Maka picked her up and approached the other two girls. "Civilian mode, my little darlings~! It'll be easier that way nyah~!"

"Oh, right," Kit said, letting her powers fade away. Maka felt herself blush a little as soon as she took in what Ebony Kitsune looked like without her powers; yet another beautiful girl gifted with curves! Okay, so she had been able to tell the other was a little more shapely because of her battle wear, but the battle wear made everyone look a little more curvaceous. After all, her outfit made Maka look like she actually had more boobies than she actually did! Was Maka just doomed to be the least attractive power-downed Diva?

Apparently not, given what she was greeted with when she glanced up as Golden Tora slipped back into civilian mode.

"**You**!" She hissed vehemently, pointing an accusing figure at them. Tsubaki was blushing a little bit but remained silent for the most part while Kit looked stunned.

"Kid… You're a Diva?" Kit asked with her jaw hanging open.

Said **young man** cleared his throat, a faint blush marring **his** cheeks. "Yes, Elizabeth, I am," He said softly before looking at the humming Blair. The little feline had been too overjoyed about receiving their last teammate to be paying attention. "You're our leader, correct?"

She perked up when she realized that she was being addressed. "Me nyah? Oh, no! I'm just the commander, whom will occasionally step in when you guys really, really need Bu-Tan's help! Maka here's the real leader of the team!" She laughed happily.

"Either way, you're the one I would talk to about my… Issue with my uniform, correct?" He asked, looking at her with a touch of annoyance.

"Hmm? What problem do you have with your uniform nyah~? I think black and blue look very good with the rest of your Diva appearance~!" She said merrily. He blushed and made a sputtering noise at her apparent lack of concern.

"**That** is not the problem with my attire! I am **clearly male** and my uniform is **designed for a female**! **Something must be done to fix it**!" He snapped angrily, actually stomping one of his feet on the ground. Was he seriously throwing a temper tantrum over this? Oh, Maka had a feeling that this was going to get interesting. And fast, at that.

"Your uniform is decided by the spirit that gave you your powers nyah. Bu-Tan couldn't do anything about it, even if she wanted to nyah," The other said innocently. Kid let out a few noises, face almost purple at this point, and took a small step backwards.

"Anyway, how's your sister doing?" Maka asked, turning her attention to the blonde a few feet from her.

"She's really beat up. She probably needs to go to the hospital," She said worriedly.

"I'll carry her. The hospital is only about three blocks from here so it won't take us long to get there," Kid said, personal dilemma ignored for the moment. She nodded and the two started muttering to one another while getting Patty situated on his back.

Maka turned on her heels, planning to take her leave, before Tsubaki grabbed her arm. "Maka! Come on, you can visit Soul while we're there," She said reassuringly.

"Sorry but I really have to go home. Besides, his parents aren't going to want me there," She said with a small sigh. She calmly took her arm back and started walking off, arms tightening slightly on Blair.

"Maka, why don't you? His parents might not even be there," She said softly.

"I'm going to respect their decision, Blair. He isn't safe with me; now please just drop it," She said sadly. The other looked down, ears flattening slightly, but did as she was asked.

…

Medusa glared down at Free as she walked back into the base. "You will have to pay for questioning me in front of the enemy, Free," She growled lowly at him. He blinked, seeming alarmed.

"I am sorry, Lady Medusa, but… Well, it seemed like a bad idea to leave while we had the upper hand," He said worriedly. She stopped short and faced him full on. He skid to a stop, stepping back a little bit in fear.

"Defeating them would be painfully easy and basic, but what good will that do us in the long run? After all, if we take them out than more will be sent. On top of that, I can never test out my latest experiment," She said with a small smirk. She then resumed walking, tapping her staff on the ground twice. In a light glow a few pictures appeared. "I want to torture them, and we're going to start with their little bunny girl leader."

"Are those the pictures that Ebony Kitsune took?" He asked, baffled even further.

"Yes. I made sure to keep a copy. Now get to work on finding out everything you can about this girl. I shall come up with a new strategy with Renegade later," She said evenly, handing him the pictures.

Free opened his mouth to protest, then nodded and headed off instead. After all, while this kind of trivial assignment was beneath him, but at least she wasn't trying to kill him. He would take a slight decrease in position without complaint.

Medusa turned and smirked at the bright blues eyes that appeared in the shadows. "Your time will com soon, Renegade. Just be patient," She said.

"Yes, Lady Medusa," The other said in a deep, cold baritone, before disappearing yet again. A shiver of delight ran up Medusa's spine. She could feel her chest swell with pride at the realization that her Renegade truly was her greatest creation. He was better than Free and any of the mutations she had made.

He was also the ticket to turning this pathetic planet into her primary experimentation location for her plans of universal domination.

End

(1) Golden Tora – As per the tradition of this story, Golden is… well, it means golden. Not much I could substitute with that so I left it as is. And the word "Tora" is Japanese for "Tiger".

Notes:

So, why did Kid get powers? Think of it this way; Kid with tiger ears, matching tail, wearing a skirt and having to refer to himself as a "Diva"? Yeah, I think I needed that in my life. No, seriously. I really needed that. And so did the rest of you. Yes. :B

Also, anyone else notice the absence of the police and shit in these shows? I mean, shouldn't they at least try to take out the giant monsters and stuff, instead of relying solely on five teenage girls with special powers in ridiculously short skirts? :T And don't forget to vote on poll about which preview you would all like me to post for you.

Next Chapter:

Did somebody ask for flashbacks to explain everything? Wish granted~! Medusa's plans continue to mess up everything Maka has been trying to accomplish in regards to her social life. In comes the new big bad that will be around for the rest of the story; hope you like him~!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Flashback will be symbolized as such; OoO.

Chapter Nine: The Tragic Back Story Cliché

Maka returned to school that Friday, if only for the fact that she could barely stand the thought of missing any more classes. Plus, she figured that learning and catching up (should Kid be in the mood to warm up to her) would be better than moping about her house like she'd been doing the last few days. She waited until lunch, after gathering all of the assignments she had missed, and then sought out Kid.

Luckily enough, he wasn't exactly playing hard to get. He was sitting beside the science building, a few feet away from the door to her Biology class.

"Hello, Maka," He said in his usual tone of vague interest. She answered him with a small noise of acknowledgement and approached him. "Did you want some help with the assignments you missed? They weren't too terribly difficult, if you needed assistance."

"I'd appreciate that but maybe later. I'm not here to talk about that right now," She said calmly. She shrugged her bag off and plopped down on the ground beside him. "I wanted to talk to you about Ebony Kitsune."

"Ah, you mean Elizabeth?" He asked calmly, pulling two water bottles from his bag. He offered one to her, which she took with a muttered thanks. "Well, I've known Elizabeth and her sister, Patricia, for some years now. She's a nice enough young lady; lives in a small apartment just she and her sister."

"That isn't exactly what I was wondering," She said while twisting open the water bottle. She took a quick sip before continuing. "You two may be friends, but how did you know she was a Diva? And how did you know who I was?"

"She… Came to me, shortly after Patricia was taken by Medusa, telling me what happened. She asked me to keep up the story that Patricia was just sick if anyone asked me about her location and condition," He said, tossing his water bottle between his hands. He watched that instead of looking up to meet Maka's weighted gaze. "And I figured out who you were after your first encounter with her. I had followed Elizabeth, hoping to find some way to help her save Patricia, but I saw the two of you have that short bout at the mall. I saw who you were outside of your form, looked it up, and found out you'd be a student at the new school I'd be attending. And, as such, I felt I should learn what I could to keep you from hurting her."

"So it was just a happy coincidence that you transferred here," She said with a small sigh of relief. Well, at least he wasn't a **complete** stalker; that made things easier. She took another sip of her water and glanced at him. "But why are you so protective of her? How long exactly have you two known each other?"

"It's… A very long story," He said, glaring at his water bottle. She snapped her fingers, causing him to jolt up and look at her.

She was wearing an amused smirk. "I've got plenty of time. Now get yapping,"

He sighed and nodded, thinking back. "Well, I guess I should start… About five years ago, we met. Under the most interesting of circumstances,"

OoO

His patience with his driver had worn out. He had simply wanted to go to the library to get some research done, and told the other to be back promptly at eight o'clock that evening when the library closed. After all, he had needed a full eight hours to get an accurate amount of work done, given that he was going to have to shift through all those disorganized shelves to find what he was looking for. Ah, the very memory of touching the area of mismatched spines and shifting through clashing titles and genres left him all kinds of uncomfortable.

Yet here he, Death the Kid, was, his drive a horrific **seven** minutes late in collecting him.

So he decided that he would walk it and rip the older male a new one later. Oh, the things that he'd have to say! Or, better yet, he would simply let his mother handle it. Eve was notorious for being overprotective of her one and only chickadee, after all. He smiled and chuckled at the though. _'Yes, that will be a much more suitable punishment,'_ He mused, suddenly giddy to return home.

And that was when he had found himself rather abruptly yanked into the nearest alley, shoved against the slimy brick wall, with the feel a cool blade to his throat.

"Give me all your cash, Richie Rich," A gruff yet high-pitched voice quipped out quickly. He blinked a few times before assessing his situation. So this was what being mugged was like! Certainly an interesting occurrence that he would store away for later use. He then glanced at his attacker, recognizing by the poorly disguised voice that he was, indeed, dealing with a ruffian of the female persuasion.

She was taller than him and, despite the grim on her face, her facial features were a clear indication that she was a year or so older than him. Her eyes were an icy green-blue that reminded him of the sea before a storm wrecked the beach with harsh waves and choking, salty froth. Her clothes were clearly hand-me-downs from a nearby shelter, because they were too big and filthy and riddled with holes. His eyes finished their assessment in a matter of seconds before he calmly placed one finger against the blade and slowly pushed it away from his neck, careful not to knick himself.

The mugger clearly wasn't prepared for this because they stared, eyes wide and horrified.

"I do have to give you credit, because this blade is surprisingly symmetrical and has clearly been well tended to; no scratches or dulled edges to soil it of its usefulness, anyway," He said casually, looking down at the shimmering blade. It truly was a beauty to behold, he had to admit, despite his personal adoration for guns. "However, I find your tactic ineffective. After all, I've seen your face. Should I agree to hand over all the money I have on my person, I've seen your face and can simply find a nearby officer and report you. I'll have my money back in less than an hour, if even that. And if you kill me? Well, then you'll be dodging a murder wrap and things will get messier from that point."

The other growled loudly, eyes crackling with fury, as she readied to bring the blade down into the palm of her hand. "Sis? Did you get money to eat yet?" A voice suddenly chimed in, causing the girl to halt and turn. Kid's own attention shifted as well.

This girl was smaller, most likely younger than Kid as well. What caught his attention was that, while there were some similarities, the two girls did not bare much resemblance to one another. This younger ones hair was clearly a lighter hair (aside from just being a much shorter length) and her eyes a much bright blue, reminding him more of the robin's eggs he observed in the tree beside his bedroom window. Other than that, she was dressed similarly but seemed much… Well, weaker was the only word that he could think of to match properly. She seemed even more like a dwarf against the size of her clothes than her older counterpart. "Patty, go back behind the trash can," The older girl said in a tone that was more pleading than strict or intimidating, though he doubted that she was aiming for either.

"Perhaps I could suggest a solution that would benefit us all?" He inquired politely. She glared at him, planning to most likely snap some order at him or continue where she'd left off with digging that blade into his hand, but he held said appendage up to halt her again. "You two look like you'd like a hot meal, warm bath and soft bed, yes? Simply help me get home from here and I can guarantee you all three."

"How do we know we can trust you?" The older girl asked suspiciously, lifting the blade up and pressing it to his cheek. He closed the eye nearest the blade and raised the other brow at her.

"My, you really like prodding me with that, don't you?" He asked sideways, not wanting to willingly ruin the perfection of his facial features. "Just have a little faith, why don't you? Come with me, go along with what I say and we'll see if we can't get this handled."

Her response was to flick her knife close, shove it in one of her pockets and motion the younger girl to come to her side. He smiled and they abandoned the alley, making the march to his family manor in almost complete silence. He was also grateful that the older sister seemed more than willing to follow his instructions; it made his story of nearly being mugged by a few men and rescued by the duo (thus assuring that **deplorable chauffeur** would be out of a job) much more believable.

OoO

"And from there the three of us… Well, we just started socializing, as strange as it was," He chuckled, unable to find the expression of disbelief Maka wore anything but comical. It was always a tale that caused people to quirk their eyebrows when they heard it. Even Trigger Gorgon, a bizarre man in every sense of the word, had been left tilting his head when the trio had told him how they became friends. "Though I also find it strange, given what you revealed about your father, that you and Soul Evans are as close as you two are."

"**Were**," She snapped while standing, "and I don't really want to discuss that right now."

"Well, I explained how I became so close to Elizabeth. It only seems fair that you should reward me with a story as well," He said while standing, scowling slightly. Kid never was a fan of lip service, and had been looking forward to getting some exchange from her. After all, they were supposed to collaborate to save the universe from Lady Medusa, weren't they?

"Sorry, but we don't have enough time," She said, giving him a quick salute, before trotting off. Just as he was gifted with the sight of her back the school bell signaling the end of lunch hour chimed.

All he could do was watch her go, wondering how deep the wounds she suffered from ran. She certainly was a tricky one, that Maka Albarn.

…

Medusa frowned lightly as she looked into the crystal ball she used to look down at Earth with. "Free," She called suddenly, motioning her minion to her side with a wiggle of a finger as well. She always made sure to add things for good measure when dealing with her gallery of morons. Sometimes even the simplest of commands could be a challenge for her special staff.

"Yes, Lady Medusa?" He asked as he walked over. She pushed herself up from her seat with the help of her staff.

"Are you absolutely sure that you sent the threat notice to the correct hospital?" She asked calmly, turning and heading toward her lab.

" Yes, Lady Medusa. Any particular reason you are so dubious of my ability to accomplish this easy task?"

"Because this is going to be the debut of my latest, most spectacular experiment and I will not settle for it being soiled by your incompetence. Renegade is the ultimate soldier, more than capable of bringing this pathetic planet to its knees, and I want that bootylicious cat-woman and her gaggle of girlies to know that I am playing this game in order to win," She said with a wave of her hand. She would normally be annoyed at how he was questioning her motives but for now she had bigger problems. She needed to make sure that everything went well; for a marvel of her skills such as Renegade,a grand entrance was an absolute necessity. She then turned and walked off, aiming to finish giving her star player his strategy for the day.

He watched her go, face scrunched up in confusion. "Did she **really** just use the word **bootylicious** to describe one of our **enemies**?" He wondered out loud, thankfully when she was out of earshot.

…

Tsubaki, Kid, Maka and Blair all met up outside of Elizabeth's school, thanks to Kid knowing where to go. She had to admit, she was a little surprised to be greeted by the others. "Wow, you sure work fast," She said, rubbing the back of her head as she reached them. She then shot a small look Kid's way. "I didn't realize that you were going to be so gung-ho about the whole thing."

"I'm just as serious about this as the rest of you; regardless of how degrading this whole thing is for me," He said blandly, shuttering as he remembered what he'd have to wear while on patrol. Oh, his poor masculine dignity! His female cohorts, however, seemed less than sympathetic since they all chuckled as his plight.

"So, anyway, should we do some formal introductions?" Maka suggested while looking around. The others all made small mutters and nods to agree with her. "Well, I guess I'll go first then. I'm Maka Albarn, also known as Alabaster Usagi, and this is Blair, also known as… Just Blair. You know, isn't that a bad idea, Blair? Shouldn't you have a code name too, so your identity is safe?"

"Bu-Tan doesn't need an alter ego to have to battle with, thank you very much nyah~! She is so exotic and breathtaking that she leaves all who gaze upon her far too stunned to think to ask her name nyah~!" She gushed happily.

'_What a narcissistic little cat,'_ Her four students thought while staring at her, sweat-drops on the back of all their heads.

"Anyway, I am Tsubaki Nakatsukasa and Scarlet Tori," The ebony haired beauty suddenly said, returning their focus to where it should be.

"Death the Kid, known under the alias of Golden Tora," The only male among them said.

The other blonde in the group chuckled lightly. "Well, I'm Elizabeth Thompson, but you three are more than welcome to call me Liz," She said lightly. She then jerked a thumb in Kid's direction. "No matter how many times I tell this guy to call me Liz he always refuses."

"It is because your full name is much more elegant, and rolls off the tongue better," He rebuttled stubbornly. Jade and sapphire orbs exchanged curious glances with one another. Was he flirting with Liz or was he really just that prissy?

"Anyway, I'm Liz," She said, rolling her eyes at him, "and I am also the Ebony Kitsune. So what do you guys normally do when you go on your patrols?"

"Actually, we won't be doing a patrol today nyah~!" Blair said quickly from her perk on Maka's shoulder. Her four charges looked at her to elaborate. "I was doing some snooping with my radio signals, and apparently one of the residents at the hospital has been threatened by Medusa. I wasn't able to get much more, other than that someone calling themselves Renegade will be making an attack some time this evening nyah."

"Could they be going after Patty?" Liz asked worriedly, one of her hands coming to cover her mouth. Kid set a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her.

"I'm not sure nyah. There was nothing else mentioned on the police scanner while I was tuned in," The feline said with a small shake of her head.

"Let's transform, head down there and see if we can't offer our assistance," Maka said, nodding her head toward a nearby alleyway. The others followed after her, quickly transforming into their Diva forms. Tsubaki took Blair in her arms and flew up to the roof to wait while the other's climbed the fire escape ladder on the side of the building after her. Maka smirked at Kid and stepped aside, indicating the ladder with her hands. "After you, Your Highness." She said teasingly.

He blushed and glared at her, mounting the ladder anyway. He decided to ignore the poorly muffled snorts coming from Liz. "Oh, shut up," He grumbled before heading on up. Liz and Maka exchanged glances, bursting into a fit of giggles, before heading up one right after the other once Kid reached the top.

They didn't want to embarrass him by seeing what color his **panties **were, after all.

Once they were all on the roof, Blair hopped from Tsubaki's arms and pulled out her collar, flicking on the tracker. She started excitedly giggling at the little dots all jumbled together on the screen. "The team is complete nyah~! It looks so pretty nyah~!" She gushed excitedly. She then jolted to attention, whiskers twitching with excitement. "Okay, so the hospital is about three blocks from here. There's no sign of the dark energy Medusa's little pets release et but we should still head there as fast as we can nyah~!"

Tsubaki picked her back up, cradling her close and making sure not to hold on too tightly, before looking at her teammates. "Will you three be able to follow me okay from the roofs?" She asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about it; we'll do just fine," Maka reassured her with a small smile and nod. With one last worried nod, Tsubaki and Blair headed off, the others following close behind.

"I just had a thought," Kid said suddenly, causing the two girls to glance at him curiously while making sure to keep moving. "Why don't we split up and go into Medusa's base? I mean, there's significantly more of us and we could kill two birds with one stone that way."

"It wouldn't work," Liz said calmly, "because Medusa already changed the code. She's not an idiot, and she knew that without my sister's life in danger I have no reason to remain loyal to her. I checked this morning before I left for school, hoping that maybe she had forgotten, but I should have expected as much. She's a wanted space criminal whose been evading the authorities for years, after all; she doesn't make simple mistakes."

"That's a good point. We wouldn't be having to deal with her if she did," Kid sighed lightly. Maka nodded her agreement before glancing up, spotting Tsubaki heading back towards them. She was wearing a worried frown. "What is it?"

"Whatever is going on, it's big alright," She said, indicating with a quick point. The other's followed her gaze, eyes wide in surprise at the amount of cop cars and uniformed officers on the premise. "This must be pretty high profile, with all of this."

"Well, Medusa has done quite a bit of damage to the city since she arrived. Her giving the city due notice before an attack is going to get everyone up in arms," Kid remarked calmly.

Maka nodded as well. "Let's get down there and see what we can do," She said. Blair hopped from Tsubaki's arms, transformed into her human form and then they descended to the scene. Maka walked over to whom she could only assume was the police captain (given that he was the one yelling at everyone else), and cleared her throat. "Excuse me, sir, but what seems to be the commotion?" She asked politely.

The man turned and blinked, eyes widening in alarm. "Aren't you the-?"

Suddenly, a pink hair young woman with a microphone jumped in, shoving herself between Maka ad the captain. "The Death City Divas, defenders of our fair city and its denizens! And you are Alabaster Usagi, the team leader, am I correct?" She asked excitedly. The young rabbit girl glanced over at the young man with a camera and suddenly realized who this was.

Kim Diehl, Junior Reporter for the Channel Eight News, and her partner Ox Ford, Junior Cameraman for Channel Eight News. If she remembered correctly, they'd been on the school paper and been unpopular for the rumors they would start up. They were later kicked off the team when she posted something about two teacher's getting it on in the Biology classroom. On one of the lab tables. Both teachers had "resigned" and suddenly every student would wipe down the table with cleaner before they entertained the notion of working at the tables. Well, maybe the sexy sensational stuff wasn't good for high school papers but it could certainly get ratings!

"Kim, darling, please. I thought I told you to go home," The captain said worriedly, setting a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him with large puppy dog eyes.

"But Daddy, I have to get the story! This could be chance for a promotion!" She said excitedly. She then turned back to Maka, whom was still just surprised that Kim's father was actually the police captain. No wonder nobody had ever given her shit about the gossip she'd spread on the school paper. "So, Usagi – May I call you Usagi? - , what is your opinion on your enemy's move to make such a public spectacle of it all? And what do you think of them targeting youngest Evans child, Soul Evans? Do you think that maybe they had a hand in the disappearance of Wesley Evans three years ago?"

"Excuse me? Soul Evans is the target?" Maka gaped, eyes wide and throat suddenly dry. She glanced back over at her teammates, before shaking her head and turning her attention back to Kim. "Look, we need to speak with Captain Diehl about everything. And I'd prefer that we keep it private, okay?" It all made sense; Medusa knew her identity! Of course she would do some snooping and try to find a way to mess with the Divas real lives, outside of the crime fighting personas! Without another word, Maka calmly pushed past the duo and led the captain inside, the other Divas close at her heels.

Kim glared slightly at her retreating form and huffed lightly. "Turn of the camera, Ox. We're going to want to save the battery power for when the real fireworks start up," She said sternly.

"I'm terribly sorry about my daughter. She gets very… Passionate about the projects she undertakes," Captain Diehl apologized with a nervous laugh.

"It's quite alright, Captain," Maka said calmly. She then swallowed and forced her brain to detach her emotional connection to Soul. He was just another citizen that she needed to protect. "So it is Soul Evans that Medusa has made the threat against?"

"Medusa? This threat referred to themselves as Renegade," He said with a worried scowl. Maka blinked then looked back over at Liz, hoping she may have some knowledge.

She was answered by a shake of the other's head. "She didn't discuss her projects with me. She only trusted me with so much," She said calmly.

"Renegade is probably just an underling to the bigger powerhouse, a being called Medusa," Maka explained to the baffled captain. She then cleared her throat. "Now, we're going to split up. Ebony Kitsune, Golden Tora, I want you two to keep tabs on the left side of the hospital. Blair and I will take the right, and Scarlet Tori will take care of protecting Mr. Evans in his room."

"Alabaster Usagi, if I may interject," Blair said with a small smile. Maka hated that smile; it meant that Blair was up to something. "It would make much more sense if you were to take primary security in Mr. Evans room. After all, you did save him from that near fatal fall a few weeks ago. The family will remember you and feel much more comfortable with you watching over their son, I am sure."

"I agree with Blair," Tsubaki said with a bright smile. Maka growled lowly then sighed and nodded. She should have known that she wouldn't win this fight with them. At least he wouldn't know it was her, so they wouldn't have to have the awkward Why-Aren't-You-Answering-My-Calls talk. After getting what room he was in from the captain, the Divas split up and headed off to the respective locations.

She paused in front of the door, her heart in her throat, before she calmly opened the door and walked in. She was grateful to find that Soul was alone and asleep, which was a blessing of sorts. She shut the door quietly and walked over, standing by his bed. The curtains to the room were yanked apart, letting the light of the setting sun slip in. It cast faint shadows on his peaceful face, and she slowly reached over and set her hand on the side of his face. His cheek was warm with the rush of life, and it brought tears to her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Soul," She hiccupped lightly, trying to will the tears back. One managed to fall free and lightly dripped on his forehead, causing him to release a small groan.

"Maka?" Soul asked softly, eyes starting to crack open. She yanked her hand back and stepped back a bit as he shifted to sit up, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. He looked at her and was clearly surprised. "Alabaster Usagi? What are you doing here?"

"Has anyone told you anything?" She asked gently, stepping over toward the window. He watched her walk and decided to keep his question on if that had been her he heard or just some illusion brought on by the pain killers.

"Not really. I've been sleeping most of the day. Well, sleeping and dicking around on my cell phone," He said, glancing over at the little device on his bedside table. He picked it up, checking for any missed calls or messages. "Damnit, Maka." He mumbled, dropping it back down on the table with a loud clatter. Her ears drooped slightly at the sound. "So what's going on exactly?"

"The villain whose been creating all those monsters has targeted you in specific. Her latest monstrosity is supposed to come after you some time soon," She said simply.

"Well that's just peachy fucking keen," He ground out, flopping back in his bed in annoyance. He glared at the wall and then looked back at her. "So are you just going to stay here until it shows up?"

"The rest of my team and I are here to protect you from this attack, yes," She said simply, still not turning to face him.

"Can I ask another question?" She looked at him and quirked an eyebrow. He looked a touch put off by her expression. "That one doesn't count."

"Sure thing, I guess," She said calmly, finally completely turning to face him.

"Where were you the last time I got attacked?" His tone was blunt and it left her frozen. When she didn't answer, he took it as his chance to pounce. "Because, seriously, that's why I'm here in the first place. And, by here, I don't just mean the hospital. My parents have lost their fucking minds over it and cut me off from the only person whom really gets me. On top of that, she's not answering my messages or calls. Knowing that idiot, she's sitting at home blaming herself, not even thinking about how it isn't her fault. If anything, it's **you** and the **other Divas** that are at fault for my little near death experience."

Maka could only stare at him, awestruck. Was he **blaming** her for his injury, while also **not** blaming her for his injury? For whatever reason this got under her skin and pissed her off. "You… You are just a piece of work, you know that? You just say whatever is in your head and don't think about how it's going to affect the person you're talking to! You've always been like that too, ever since that time with the Frisbee!"

He blinked. "Wait, the time with the Frisbee? How do you know about that?" He asked in shock, and she clamped a hand down on her mouth.

She was spared having to explain any further when the window exploded and a blurry figure rammed into her full force, sending her into the wall on the other side of the room. All she could see for a moment was pure white; to top it off, there was a buzzing in her ears and she could taste blood in her mouth.

It took a moment or two but her vision cleared just in time to see her teammates rushing toward her, dropping in front of her or beside her. They were all asking her frantic questions but she didn't care about any of those. Her gaze was fixed on the laughing form of their newest opponent. The buzzing and pain were fading fast and in their place came a kind of fury Maka hadn't felt in weeks. His outfit reminded her of that movie character, Zorro, if she remembered correctly. The entirety of the clothes was pitch black aside for the deep red belt holding his blade and the bandana wrapped around his head, which matched the belt. It was all finished off with knee high leather boots that made the lush gold hue of his lion tail and matching ears, peeking out through slits in the top of the bandana, stand out. There were also holes cut into the bandana that revealed only his eyes, which were a pale blue. Ignoring her friends' protests, she forced herself to her feet and transformed her ribbon into its weapon form. "You must be Renegade. I'll give you credit; that was a good shot," She said flatly, taking a shaky step forward. Her back hurt like none other but she forced herself to block out the pain.

"Naturally," He laughed, shrugging casually.

"Don't think you're going to get another one like that, though; I'm gonna send you right back to palling around with Shrek and Donkey, little Puss," She growled lowly.

He laughed lightly. "Oh, really? I don't think so," He said calmly. He indicated himself with one hand before jerking a thumb at Liz. "I am better than all of you, thanks to Lady Medusa. She was able to get a lot of wonderful research about your powers while Foxy-Loxy over there was playing ball with a winning team. However, now that she's decided she'd prefer to be an underdog, they found an even better front man. My powers and abilities… I'm a bigger threat than all of you combined!"

"Well, you know what they say," Tsubaki said as she rose and took her spot beside Maka. Liz and Kid were fast to follow, standing beside one another on Maka's other side.

"The bigger they are," Liz said with a smirk.

"The harder they fall," Kid said, trying to sound serious despite trying to influx his voice to be more feminine. For once, the others didn't laugh at him, much more focused on the battle at hand.

"Blair, get Soul out of here!" Maka ordered, looking over at the she-cat seriously. She blinked then nodded, walking over the bed and saying her little chant. Suddenly the bed, all the equipment, Soul and Blair disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Renegade glanced at the smoke then smirked. "Well, this will be a short visit. Lady Medusa told me to only give you a taste of my power," He said smugly. Maka glared at him and lifted her blade higher while her friends followed suit, having their own weapons appear. With a quick nod from her, the group launched forward at him.

The tactic of gang-bang did not go as well as they had been hoping it would. He didn't even lift his blade in his efforts to defeat them; all he did was dodge and duck. He paused every now and then to land a blow here and there; a kick to Tsubaki's gut, a punch to Kid's face or an elbow to Liz' sternum. He seemed to be focusing more on banging those three up first while Maka was just getting his blocks and the occasional shove out of the way. She could feel her anger rising. "Fight me like you mean it, you bastard!" She screamed, lifting her blade to make a downward arc at his head.

He went to grab it when she twisted her body and brought her elbow right into his unguarded face. There was a loud crack as her elbow met his nose and he winced for just a moment, blood starting to steadily trickle out, but it was the opening she'd been hoping for; it was finally her chance to show off how well she could S.I.N.G. (1) He stumbled back a beat and that was when she introduced her fist rather solidly to his stomach. While he wheezed in pain at that blow, she dug the heel of her boot into the instep of his left foot, then managed to give a shift chop with the side of her hand to his neck. It was when she went to knee him right in the family jewels that he grabbed her and brought her flush against him.

She would have blushed at the close proximity of their bodies if not for the murderous rage in his eyes. "Enough," He said in a deep, intimidating tone. It wasn't loud, either, but that seemed to make it that much worse. Holding her in place by an arm against her back, his other hand went for his sword. "I hadn't been planning to use this, but you've left me with no choice, have you? Well, now you need to learn a lesson." He said darkly, a twisted smile coming to his lips. Maka shifted, trying to bring her scythe between them to defend herself somehow, but with his body so close and his grip so tight, she was barely able to shove her scythe in the way of his katana as he aimed to bring it down upon her.

From where the two blades clashed, sparks flew everywhere. From Renegade's weapon, the sparks were black and a dark shade of purple, while Maka's weapon released sparks of a pale blue and bright yellow. They growled and pressed, trying to force the other to concede defeat, but to no avail. The other Divas could only watch on as the air between the two thickened to a point that it became visible, two near-transparent walls of silver light trying to snuff one another out.

At last, with a loud shattering and screech of metal, the two were sent flying back into opposite directions. Maka ended up slamming right into the wall beside the door to the room, while Renegade managed to catch himself. He let out an angry roar, however, and wagged the crushed remains of his blade at the Divas, eyes alive with rage. "How the Hell did you do that?" He bellowed angrily.

Maka smirked at him, wincing slightly as she steadied herself. Slamming into that wall was not a pleasant sensation, after all. "It's called being superior. Now get out of her before I give you a real reason to go mewling back to Mama Cat," She said with a small laugh. There was only a slight strained pitch to it from the pain she was feeling.

Renegade growled and turned to leave, but was halted when Tsubaki stepped forward, clutching her hands to her chest. "Why are you doing this? Why would you help someone as evil and terrible as Medusa?" She asked, eyes large with confusion and pain.

"Because she's going to give me the one thing I can't get on my own," He said without looking back. And then he disappeared, hopping out the window.

…

The Divas had snuck out of the hospital through the back. Maka, whose powers had deactivated instinctively after the energy clash with Renegade, ended up having to wrap a sheet around herself to hide her identity. They were only able to get out the back because there was a nurse who empathized with their desire to avoid Kim Diehl and her constant questions, especially since Maka was too tired to transform back into Alabaster Usagi. While the other's powered down and Blair caught back up to them, the young blonde removed her sheet and started to flex her hands lightly. They still felt tingly and somewhat heavy, as if being weighed down with lead or something. _'It must just be a side effect of the clashing energy. That was a pretty big blow, given it demolished Renegade's weapon,'_ She thought calmly before turning her attention to her teammates.

"Right. Well, we should head home, Blair," She said, turning to the other. Said woman turned into a cat and calmly hopped onto Tsubaki's shoulder.

"I'm going to stay here a little longer and make sure everything is okay. My superiors are most certainly going to want a report from Bu-Tan later on," She said gently. The young blonde nodded and turned, starting to walk off. She just wanted to go home, take a nice hot bath and then try and forget about today.

Yet another muck up by her, though this one might be much more severe.

The four of them looked at one another once they were sure she was out of sight and earshot. That was when the meekest among them let what had happened tumble from her lips like a startled kitten falling from its cat tower after being frightened by one of its kin. "No wonder she didn't want to talk about him earlier," Kid remarked with a small sigh once she finished. He shook his head slightly. "However, I do admit that it's a bit admirable to me. I mean, she's only trying to keep him safe by keeping her distance."

"No, no! You know nothing about girls, do you, Kid? If she isn't with that boy than she'll never be happy, and her performance will be hindered by her grief! We have to do something to fix this. But we can't do much at the time, what with him in the hospital and all nyah," The young cat said, glancing at them with sharp eyes. She wanted all her charges to be happy, after all!

"Well, I think I can get something figured out for once he's back at one hundred percent," Liz chimed in with a smirk, resting an elbow on the only male's shoulder and leaning on him for support. He cast her a curious glance and her smirk grew wider. "You have a lot of influence. Let me come up with the idea and then you'll just need to pull the strings to make it happen."

"Why do you assume that I will assist you all with this? I'm completely against it. I feel we should be more focused on our mission; once Medusa has been effectively handled, then you can focus on helping her with her love life, if you should choose to," He said.

The other glared at him. "Look, it's either we do this the easy way or we do it **my** way, Kiddo. And we both know that you won't like it if we do it **my way**," She said in a warning growl.

"… Fine, whatever. I'll humor your little delusions, but I will not make any attempts aside from this one. We should respect Maka's decision to cut him out to keep him safe," He grumbled out bitterly. He was answered with a smile from the other.

"Good boy. Now, we'll meet back up once he's feeling better and we'll get things figured out from there, okay?"

"Okay," The softer of the group said with a serious nod.

"Operation: Make Maka Eat Her Words and Have a Happily Ever After is a go nyah!" The leader announced excitedly, throwing one paw in the air.

This would certainly help keep things interesting, to say the least.

(1) S.I.N.G. – any _Miss Congeniality_ fans in the audience? There's a scene where the main character is performing in the talent portion of a beauty pageant, but her original skill gets messed up. As such she has to come up with something new on the fly and convinces this guy she knows to help. She then shows the audience a little self-defense move known as S.I.N.G. It stands for the following; stomach, instep, neck and, lastly, groin. I felt I should credit the moves Maka used, as I obviously did not come up with it.

End

Notes:

Have you ever noticed how, like, with the exception of the main character, the others usually have these kinda sad pasts? Take the Sailor Scouts, as an example; if you were ever a fan, I am sure you probably watched Sailor Moon the Movie R. You know, the one with the alien that was man-crushin' on good ole' Darien? There's this scene that sticks out in my mind toward the end where all the scouts (excluding Serena herself) are having flashbacks… **And in all of them they're, like, social pariahs!** I mean, **seriously!** It's like Serena was the only one whom thought about actually talking to these girls and seeing what they were like! And while I do think it was good to show why they cared so much about her and the bonds they've forged… I don't know. I just always thought that similarity between them all was kinda strange. :I (Although, admittedly, Kid and Liz' relationship seems a little more akin to Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus, huh?)

Also, I will reveal what caused Maka and Soul to become friends in the first place when I'm dealing with them in the next chapter, so don't you worry~! ;D

Next Chapter:

Blair's patience with her bosses wears out and she tells them to either put-up or shut-up; take a guess which one they do. Maka's tactics in avoiding Soul blow up even further in her face due to the awesome skills of teamwork. Be prepared, everybody, because this chapter will be focusing on our heroine's love life some more~!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Flashback will be symbolized as such; OoO. Also, warning to the faint of heart; it is about to get all kinds of cliché-style romantic and fluffy. Be prepared. :I

Chapter Ten: Those Meddling Kids Cliché

It was a Friday, and she was feeling much more sluggish than usual with all the things going on around her. Today was a teacher-work day, since they had just passed through their midterm exams. The holiday season was fast approaching, and the idea of bargain shopping and constant baking made her want to crawl deeper into the sheets. Usually she loved this time of year, because it was spent with her loved ones. Normally she wasn't baking alone; she had her albino buddy helping her (despite the fact she pretty much had to hold his hand the entire time, what with him being completely inept at anything relatively domestic). She loved getting to spend time doing all those things that came with the holidays because he was there by her side. He was there, making it more fun than it had been since she was a tiny tot, watching her Mama do it all.

This year there was no Soul Evans to stay by her side.

The realization that she would be handing out candy **alone**, making Thanksgiving dinner **alone**, baking cookies for the Christmas party they typically attended **alone**... it all left a dead weight in her belly. Sure, it was easy to put on a brave face for her friends when they pressed her on the matter, but she couldn't hold it up at home. She also couldn't really put it in the back of her mind, either, given that their patrols now centered around Soul's house to assure that Renegade didn't go after him again. She yanked her covers over her head, ignoring Blair's noisy pleas to be feed. **Damn cat** could turn into a **fucking Victoria's Secrets model**, she could **damn well** let herself out and go pester Spirit if she was so hungry! It was all her fault this had happened in the first place!

... Okay, **that** wasn't very fair of her. Emotionally distraught or not, she shouldn't blame Blair for it all. She just felt so cold inside at the thought of going through her routine **without** one of the main staples of said ritual. Soul had been a part of her holiday schedule since they had met, nearly ten years ago, on a surprisingly cool summer night.

OoO

It was happening, again.

And she was tired of listening, tired of crying, and tired of trying to understand. Mama and Papa always fault, whether it be over this or that, and she just didn't get it. Weren't they supposed to love each other? Why did they have to fight over everything?

Well, this little blonde wasn't going to just mope in her room and listen anymore! She was a girl of action, a girl with fire! Everyone told her that she was just like her mother; a spitfire with a good head on her shoulders. Despite only being seven, she was practical and well-read. And as such, she came to a responsible and mature decision, especially for someone of her age.

She snuck out her bedroom window, planning to run away from home.

In her defense, she had a plan; not necessarily an award-winning one, but a plan just the same. See, she knew better than to try and actually leave the city limits. Her parents had warned her oft enough about the bad people who would bad things to her if they caught her alone. As such, she had decided she'd just have to hide at the nearby playground until they found her. After all, it was close but still a good enough distance that they would have to look. It was also just public enough that if a stranger approached her she could shriek for help and have an adult to her rescue in a snap.

It had seemed fool-proof, except one thing; her plan depended on her parents noticing she was gone.

So as she sat there, two hours having ticked by and the sun just beginning to disappear in the horizon, she wondered what she was doing. Her parents had been so absorbed in their battle they hadn't even thought to look for her, instead choosing to sulk in opposite ends of the house. And she was starting to get the hint, though it was still a bitter pill to swallow. Was she really such a small concern compared to their arguing? Just as she felt the sting of tears, something hard and plastic was introduced to her skull.

It was a Frisbee, and it sent her flailing and wailing from her swing.

"I think it went over he- Oh, crud! Wes, come quick! I think we're about to be in big trouble!" A startled young voice cried out. She laid there, staring at the sky as the tears finally started to spill; both from her frustration and the pain of being attacked with a flying plastic toy. Watery jade locked with concerned ruby as the young boy leaned over her face, looking down at her. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Go away!" She sobbed loudly, throwing her arms over face to shield her face from his view. She didn't want a complete stranger to see her cry, after all.

The boy, however, was not swayed, as his simple response was to yank her up by her arms so that she was forced to stand and face him. He pinned her arms to her side, despite her squirming restlessly again him. "Stand still, will you?" He snapped, baring his fangs at her.

That got her to crumble to muted sniffles. She had never seen such sharp and scary looking teeth on a person before!

He made a few noises, releasing her arms to tilt her head this way and that. She could hear rustling in the same direction this one had come from, and saw a slightly taller version of him approaching. She concluded they had to be related, since they had the same bizarre snowy hair and bright red eyes. "We should probably ice her forehead. It looks like it'll develop a bump, or hopefully just a simple bruise," The older of duo suggested patiently.

"Do we have any ice packs in the cooler?" The younger asked, sending a quick glance over his shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure we do. Come on, let's check," He said, turning and starting to head back the way they'd come. The younger looked at Maka and tugged her wrist, implying she follow too. Despite not wanting to go off with them she decided it would be for the best. It was better than sitting here all alone with a headache, anyway.

After a short walk to a nearby hill, she settled on to the checkered blanket they had spread out. The older brother rummaged through the small, over-the-shoulder cooler they had brought along. "We forgot to grab the Frisbee," The younger of the two said suddenly, plopping down next to Maka. And a little too close, in her opinion.

While his attention was on his brother she scooted a little ways away.

"Well, Soul, maybe you shouldn't have thrown it so hard and hurt poor… Ah, what is your name, Miss?" The older said, pausing to glance up at look at her. She jolted slightly a the attention being on her yet again.

"Maka," She said in a mumble, looking away. The older brother smiled lightly at her.

"It's nice to meet you, Maka. I'm Wes and this is my brother, Soul. Sorry we couldn't be meeting under better circumstances, though," He said warmly before resuming his search.

"What were you doing sitting there all alone like an idiot, anyways?" Soul asked bluntly.

"Soul!" Wes said sharply, shooting him a dirty look.

"What? It's not my fault that it's the truth!" He retorted quickly, clearly flabbergasted at his brother's irritation. All he had done was ask a simple question!

"Mama and Papa were fighting. And I didn't want them to, but they won't listen to me, so I thought I could scare them," She said softly, cutting the brewing argument off. The two fell silent and stared at her curiously. "I thought maybe if they thought I ran away they'd stop fighting, but I've been here for a really long time and they haven't come looking at all. They don't care about me as all."

As soon as the words left her mouth, her lip started trembling and she fell back into sobs.

Both brothers started frantically looking at one another, panicked and worried. They had never had to deal with a crying girl before, after all; they had no sisters and they rarely ever saw any of their extended relatives. Seeing that his older brother was just as clueless as him, Soul swallowed hard and reached over, patting the young girl on the head. "H-Hey, now, don't cry," He said meekly, trying to put on a cool bravado.

Suddenly Maka threw herself into Soul, latching onto him and sniffling. "Why am I not important to them?" She whimpered shakily.

Matching sets of ruby spheres locked for a minute before Soul very slowly wrapped his arms around her. "I don't know," He said softly, sitting there and just holding her. Comforting a crying girl was what a cool guy did, right?

Maka stayed with the Evans children until far after twilight, when the Evans adults came and took her back home. Her parents had coddled over her, thanking the other couple profusely for bringing her home, but a sinking feeling was bubbling up in Maka's belly. They were going to argue about this in the morning, she just knew it. And apparently the younger Evans boy was able to sense her apprehension, because he then bluntly announced that he'd be back in the morning to play with Maka again.

And from that day forward, Soul Evans and Maka Albarn were practically inseparable.

OoO

She yanked the covers tighter over her head, still fighting back tears, as her phone started chiming. It was playing the tone she'd assigned to Tsubaki, but she was not in a good enough mood to answer. "Maka, it could be an emergency nyah," Blair said worriedly.

"Then you can answer it," She grumbled out, turning in her bed so her back was to the talking feline. She laid there, vaguely tuning in as Blair transformed and answered. She was mostly just making noises of agreement, wordless noises like "Ah". And then, after just a few moments, the blanket was yanked from Maka's body and she was sent tumbling to the ground.

"What gives?" She snapped while sitting up, rubbing her poor abused rear end. The other just grinned at her with bright golden eyes filled with mischief.

"Get dressed!" She said eagerly, yanking her young charge to her feet and starting to shove her toward her closet.

"What? Why?" Maka asked frantically, trying to dig her heels into the carpet to halt them.

It didn't work, given that Blair was stronger than she looked. "Get dressed because Tsubaki and everyone else want you to come to a carnival with them~! And having fun with your friends will do much more for you than mopping about nyah~!"

...

Maka shifted uncomfortably as she waited at the entrance to the carnival for her friends. People (mostly guys) kept looking at her and it made her feel uneasy. _'I'm never going to let Blair pick my outfit again,'_ She thought while looking around, hoping to spot any of her crew. Her feline friend had this very strange habit to find clothes in Maka's closet that she didn't even remember purchasing; that, or Blair was abusing that magic she'd been given to use as a tool in their fight against Medusa.

After all, did Maka Albarn seem like the type of girl to own a pink spaghetti strap top that barely covered her midriff, denim booty shorts, black leggings and black heels that strapped over the back of her heels? No! She had no idea where this far too revealing outfit had come from. On top of that, Blair had forced her to wear her hair down (the young feline had actually curled it a bit to give it bounce and a tad more volume) and then forced her to wear just little touches of make-up and lip gloss. When a passing young man actually whistled, Maka squeaked and flushed almost crimson on the spot. _'Oh, yeah, never letting Blair dress me again!'_ She thought indignantly, looking around frantically for the damnable fool whom had **dared** to whistle at her.

"Oh, Maka, you look great!" Tsubaki said excitedly, alerting her to her arrival. Maka had started to put on a smile when she saw the other two people that had tagged along with the raven haired woman.

Black*Star and Soul.

Garnet locked with emerald for a moment, and her heart skid to a stop. He didn't seem shocked at all, meaning he had known she'd be here; he did look mildly amused at the surprise on her face, though. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to not admire how much better he looked, out of the hospital and fully recovered, his skin back to its usual light tan. She also didn't think about how he looked good in that casual white shirt with the dark blue jacket tossed over to cover what the shirt wouldn't. Or how those jeans went well with the outfit, though most people would assume they wouldn't match well.

Nope. She totally wasn't going to even notice any of that. "Black*Star," She said, quickly dipping her head at him and looking away from Soul. She caught the hint of hurt on his face at her refusal to acknowledge him but forced herself not to dwell on it. "So, do we know when Kid, Liz and Patty will be getting here?" She asked, attention returning to Tsubaki.

With her release from the hospital and knowledge of the Diva powers, Patty had become a fast friend to the other team members. Though she wasn't allowed to tag along on missions and scouting, she was invited to all social events.

"Oh, they had to cancel. The giraffe at the zoo is giving birth today, and Liz and Kid promised to take Patty to see it. Instead it's going to be just the four us. But we'll still have a blast, right?" She asked excitedly, azure eyes all excitement and glee.

'_You are all going to pay for this; all five of you,'_ Maka glared at her, making sure what she was thinking got across. Given how Tsubaki tensed and laughed nervously, she was pretty sure it made it through.

"It'll be like a double date! Poor Soul gets stuck with Tiny Tits, though, because I call dibs on Tsubaki!" Black*Star suddenly cheered, darting over and flinging an arm over said young woman's neck. She laughed lightly and let him drag her along to the ticket booth, so that they could get admitted.

"I'm cool with that. I've been meaning to talk to **you** for a while," Soul said, approaching Maka and offering his arm. She glanced at him and then off to the side, worrying her lip between her teeth. "If you won't do it for me, just humor that moron. If we don't play along he'll go on one of his tirades, and I somehow doubt you were able to find some place to smuggle a book on your person like usual. I mean, that outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination." She glared at him, cheeks turning pink, but reluctantly relented.

"This has to be the last time though, Soul," She said softly, not wanting to completely relent. He quirked an eyebrow as he paid for them both before she could protest. "Your parents don't want you near me. I'm bad luck."

"My parents can suck it," He answered quickly, rolling his eyes. She opened her mouth to protest but he leaned right into her personal space, so that they were eye to eye, wearing a determined scowl. "They are only acting like this because of everything that happened with Wesley."

"And they have every right to be concerned. You nearly died-!"

"I nearly died protecting you from a monster, because I threw myself in front of you. You didn't make me into a human shield; I knew what I was getting myself into the minute I put myself in front of you," He cut in calmly. He then smirked at her. "Now, why don't we catch up with Tsubaki and Black*Star? We'll discuss the rest of this later."

A part of Maka wanted to protest, but another part of her (the part that had been missing Soul's company so much it hurt) won out and she decided to go along with it. Until she could come up with a good escape plan, of course.

…

Blair had just roused from a nap when she decided to check in with her superior's. It had been a week since her last status report and she figured she was well overdue. After all, her bosses were glad they had discovered one of the readings but they were still worried about the third, unknown part. "Good afternoon nyah~!" She said cheerfully to the three figures that greeted her.

"Hello, Blair," Detective Mjolnir said merrily. Detective Azusa made a small noise in the back of her throat while Captain offered a mere tip of the head. "How are things going with your charges?"

"Oh, just wonderful nyah~! They're all working very well together, and can actually handle patrols without Bu-Tan around to help them~!" She beamed. It was a bit of a lie, yes, but she was still allowed to be proud of her Divas! They were all four blossoming into four lovely, courageous young women!... Erm, three lovely, courageous young women and one strong, dependable young man that would be acutely sensitive to the struggles of women, to be precise. "We still have no update on the third energy source you picked up on the scanners but we are keeping an eye out. Also, Renegade has still not made a return since Maka broke his sword in his first confrontation with us."

"And have you put anymore work into breaking into Medusa's base?" Detective Azusa snapped, cutting off Detective Mjolnir, whom had been preparing to speak. Blair's ears tipped down slightly. "I'll take that as a no. Blair, this is a very serious mission. You have your full team and if they truly are doing as well as you claim, you should be working to take Medusa out! We are wasting precious time and money waiting around on this!"

"Well my communicator only has so many capabilities. I've been trying to hack her computer systems but my limited technology is hindering that part for us," Blair said quickly, her voice hitting a pitch between whiny and frightened.

"Then you should have come to us sooner, Blair! We can send you the technology you need!" The older woman snapped, hands on her hips. She rolled her eyes slightly. "I mean, honestly, are you even trying? Or are you just trying to turn this into a vacation? Any other agent with your same credentials would have been done with all of this by now!"

Suddenly, Blair's sense of niceties broke like an old damn after a serious monsoon. "Oh, yes, because you can do **so much** from the floating base in space! If you really think that someone else can do better, why haven't you replaced me yet? If I'm such a failure than reassign me! Or, **better yet**, how about one of you **comes down here** and **actually does something**! **Stop nagging at me about how I'm such a terrible leader and do your damn jobs**!" And with that off of her chest, Blair promptly hung up. She huffed, licking the fur on her chest to try and settle herself, before hopping down from the bed and heading toward the kitchen. She was going to need some tasty, tasty fish to cheer her up after this.

Meanwhile, Detective Azusa and Detective Mjolnir just stood at the blank screen in awe. "I… I think you finally broke her, Yumi," The blonde woman chimed in after a few more seconds of silence. This earned her a glare.

"I did not! It is not my fault if Blair is too vapid and immature to handle such a delicate mission!" She rebuttled harshly, pressing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. Her comrade's brow furrowed at this.

"That isn't fair to say, you know. You're being a little too critical of her work," She pressed forward, meeting the other's heated look. Yumi opened her mouth to speak when the Captain snapped their fingers at their subordinates.

"Land," They said suddenly.

"What do you mean, Captain?" Yumi asked, clearing her throat nervously. Certainly this was a joke?

"Land the ship. Apparently Blair needs a little bit of handholding; we are going to give her that assistance," The Captain said with a small scowl.

Blair had issued the challenge; who were they to turn it down?

…

The day had gone relatively well, though Tsubaki could not chalk it up to a success. Things between Soul and Maka were still tense, and the young blonde seemed uncomfortable whenever he tried to act like nothing was wrong. Maka's inability to let anything go (a trait the inky haired woman was well-acquainted with thus far into their friendship) was playing a much harder obstacle than she'd expected. On top of that, she had caught her friend trying to sneak away from them several times throughout the day.

Currently, Maka had excused herself to the restrooms, but she could tell that was another of her plans. As soon as Maka's back was turned, she prepared to follow her and calm her down. Soul held up a hand instead, however, and shook his head. "I'll take care of this, Tsubaki. We'll meet up with you and Black*Star later." He said before following after the young blonde. He made sure to duck and weave through the crowd while keeping good time with his target.

"I hope he can handle it okay," She said with a heavy sigh. She turned to face Black*Star only to be greeted with a large, stuffed lion. "Uh…?"

"I totally just kicked everyone's ass at the balloon toss game and won this! I thought you might like to have it, since a God like me doesn't really have much need for something like this!" Black*Star cackled happily from somewhere behind the voluptuous, golden mane of the plush toy. Cerulean orbs softened and she gently took the toy, holding it close to her. The fake fur tickled her nose a little bit.

"Thank you so much, Black*Star. This is so sweet," She giggled at his grinning face. He was lightly rubbing beneath his nose with one finger in a cocky sort of way. The two of them chose to ignore the man screaming about the dart that had ended up lodged surprisingly well into his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Maka was trying to shimmy her way out the ladies' restrooms window. It was in the back of the lavatories building and would allow her an easy escape. All she would have to do was drop down, sprint across the nearby parking lot, and there was a bus stop not two blocks away! She could get a ticket to drop her off close enough to her home to walk, then she'd beginning planning her revenge. Starting with a certain sassy feline with an oddly colored coat.

She smirked to herself. "Good thing Tsubaki bought that whole Need-to-freshen-up shtick. You'd think she'd be smarter than that," She mumbled with a chuckle, her upper half on the outside while she tried to fling her lower half out with her freed arm.

"Oh, totally. Some people are just **ridiculously oblivious**, aren't they?" An all-too familiar voice quipped sarcastically.

Her head snapped up to clarify and she let out a small squeak. Aw, **shit**!

It was Soul.

"So, having fun up there?" He asked with a small chuckle, taking a step toward her. She would have stepped back but she was dangling halfway through a window. He offered his hands, which she carefully took. Going slow and steady, the duo got her out the window and onto solid ground. "So, how about we have that little chat I mentioned earlier? It's been a while since we talked."

She gulped and took a step to the side. _'Maybe if I run just fast enough I can slip past him and make an escape,'_ She thought with little hope.

"And don't think about running; you're usually about as coordinated as a drunk walrus on roller skates. Adding those dressy shoes of yours to the mix only spells even further disaster for you. And which one of us do you think will **actually **win in a race, given these facts?" Soul asked flatly, watching her with poorly concealed amusement.

Well, damn, there went **that** brilliant plan!

"You read like an open book… Well, to me, at least. And I don't even **like** reading," He said lightly, taking another step closer to her. Before she could move he had hooked her chin with one hand and forced her to meet his gaze. "So, what the Hell is your problem?"

She glared at him and then looked down. "You… Should stay away from me, Soul," She said meekly. She let out a small sigh and her shoulders drooped slightly. "If I had known that you were going to be here I never would have agreed to come."

"Yeah, Tsubaki had figured as much," He said calmly. He then tilted her head a bit so that her attention was back on him. "And like I said earlier, it was my decision to protect you, so that's that. What I'm more interested about is that confession of yours from before those little beasties showed up." He resisted the urge to smirk at the blush and flinch that he was awarded with for that little gem. "Yeah, that's right, I remember that whole deal. You can't just go saying things like that and then avoiding the person you said them to, like they don't matter and are easy to forget."

"Y-Your parents don't want you anywhere near me anymore. Let me go and we can just-!" She grumbled out, taking a shaky breath, but he cut her off by giving her head a slight jerk.

"Bullshit," Soul barked out. She had never wished to be able to break eye contact with anyone in her life as much as in that moment. The sheer intensity gleaming in those scarlet orbs refused to let her look away anymore. "Since when do either one of us care what my parents have to say? I mean, we've been breaking their rules for years!" He started chuckling lightly, and he closed his eyes in deep thought. He was smiling in **that** way; gentle, warm, inviting. She liked that expression of his the best. "Remember that time, back in seventh grade, when I got the flu? You came by and asked my parents if you could stay to keep me company. They told you to go to school instead. Remember what you did?"

"Climbed the tree by your window and had you sneak me in that way," She said, a tender little smile of her own coming into play. She remembered that day all too well; that was probably the day she realized that she liked Soul a lot more than as just a friend. She had even dared to mar her perfect attendance record for that year just for the sake of taking care of him.

"That's right. My parents were steamed that you didn't listen but they got over it," He said with another little chuckle. He opened his eyes and his other hand came up, giving a few locks of hair a little teasing tug. "And they'll get over this too, in time. They're not complete idiots; they'll have to recognize you couldn't have done anything about the situation."

She looked away again, her faint smile disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared. Everyone else had said the same thing, but none of them had tacked on the very important fact that she **could have**; one out of ignorance and the others out of agenda. The minute those monsters showed up she should have changed into Alabaster Usagi. She had been more concerned about preserving her secret identity and that was what almost got him killed. "This is different, Soul. You could have **died**. What don't you **get** about that?"

"But I **didn't** die! What don't **you** get about **that**?" He snapped back, scowling now. His constant pushing was getting to her and she felt herself quickly cracking under the pressure.

"And **where** would I have been **if you did die**? I already can't stand to look at myself in the mirror knowing that you **almost** died for me! I don't want that, Soul! So why don't you just go back to the carnival and flirt with some dumb bimbo with huge tits loitering at the cotton candy stand?" She snarled at him angrily, reaching up and yanking his hand off of her chin. She turned on her heels to stomp off like she always did when he said something stupid to piss her off and she didn't have a book handy.

Suddenly he caught her arm, wheeled her around, and his lips were on hers.

It was a little awkward, and she had to ignore the feel of their teeth clattering and the slight sting from one of his teeth hitting her lip, but she couldn't help but just melt into it. After all, she had had many a cheesy, embarrassing dream much like this one, where Soul was kissing her (though, admittedly, in those they were both dressed in something better suited in one of those romance novels said fantasies were born from). How could she resist the real deal? Once it was clear that she wasn't going to struggle, and she actually started to shyly kiss back, Soul eased up slightly. With her compliance, they shifted so that the kiss was a bit more proper, leaving Maka seeing little transparent stars in her vision when they parted for air. "Why?" Maka whispered lightly.

"A guy doesn't go risking his life for just any girl. For being top of the class, you really are a social retard, aren't you?" He asked with a teasing smirk.

She blushed and burrowed into his shoulder. "Shut up," She mumbled against the material of his jacket. She closed her eyes and let herself relax, her heart still pounding. Maybe this really was okay. After all, as long as she was more careful Soul would be safe. And dear God had she missed him. "Does this mean we're… Like… Boyfriend-girlfriend?"

"Ain't it obvious?" He chuckled into her hair, his arms snaking around her waist and keeping her close. He closed his eyes and chuckled at the excited squeals he heard a few feet away.

He decided to not let their little "girlfriends" ruin the mood (because he knew **damn well** that one of those squeals belonged to a specific bluenette).

End

Notes:

Just gonna throw this out before I explain this chapters cliche; I have updated my profile again. I've made some changes to some of my upcoming ideas and have even scrapped a few, so feel free to check it out if you wanted to know what's going on with my updates and schedule.

I felt I should explain that this cliché **does** go toward a few points from the three magical girl series I told you all I'd be taking elements from. In Sailor Moon, I remember this point where Rae was trying to hook up with Darien and making Serena **all kinds** of jealous. Kinda caddy on Rae's part, in my opinion, but it was still fun to watch. In Cardcaptor's, Syaoran (in the comics, anyway) was originally a sort of romantic rival for Sakura as well. I remember him crushing on Yuki and wanting to steal all his attention away; **ironic** given those two end up together, huh? Lastly, this cliché in regards to Tokyo Mew Mew. The other Mews **fucking loved** shoving their noses into Ichigo's love life with Masaya, like, ridiculously so. Poor girls were probably just dying to get themselves a hunky man too. :T

Next Chapter:

Time for an old-fashioned Mexican-Stand-Off between Renegade the Jackass and Maka the Badass. Chrona gets to be mentioned because why the Hell not! Enter the Captain and the Detectives; masters at accomplishing the impossible goal of reigning in Blair!


	11. Notice

Hello all,

Okay, so I normally don't like doing things like this (substituting chapters for author notes) but it has to be done. As I write this, I have not slept and have way too much crap to do today to even think about going to bed soon. If there are any typos, I'm sorry.

So, new developments in my life involve having yet another new job (my third job in the last year alone). My newest job has been, by far, the best in regards to hours and pay. I'm up to 32 hours at least a week at minimum wage, which is lovely since I'm still paying off a car and paying for my college classes out of pocket. It may be a fast food restaurant but it's been the most dependable and stable I've been in the last year. On top of that, both my classes this semester are online because my shifts at work are overnights. Where I work is open 24 hours a day, so at least four nights a week I work from 9 at night until 5 in the morning. This, however, is not necessarily a problem. I've always been a night owl (staying up until two or three even on a school night when the muses gift me with gold) so this really isn't in contrast to my sleep schedule (though I am still pretty tired), and I love working the overnights. I love the hours and my co-workers are incredible and I absolutely love the money I'm making.

So, why am I posting this, when things are going so well?

Because I am having to do something I never wanted to do; I have to put Death City Divas on a small hiatus.

Even though things are good for me, I've hit a huge brick wall of crippling writer's block for this story. I think this is the worst I've had it since my Junior year of high school, where I just ended up not really writing at all for almost a whole year. I have re-written the next few chapters almost **five times each** now and just cannot say I'm satisfied with any of them. I'm not going to take the story down because I know where I want to go in about another six chapters or so, and I really am in love with everything about this story, but it is getting to those points that is the current challenge. I am hoping that this will get cleared up in about two weeks, when I go on vacation to an anime convention with some friends. Maybe seeing all the cosplayers and fellow geeks, getting to relax and unwind with friends I don't get to see as much as I'd like, and taking some serious me time will help clear it all up. I am sincerely hoping that it does, anyway.

So, where does this leave you all in regards to fanfiction written by Pyocola Analogue III?

Well, there is a silver lining to this little storm cloud, all. While I have writer's block on Death City Divas, I am basically **overflowing** with ideas and plans for my two upcoming fanfics, Ace in the Hole and E for Effort. Because of this, I've decided to take by my previous statement that I was going to wait until Death City Divas was done to start typing up Ace in the Hole down and will post that soon for you all. I am not going to try and fight my muses when they are offering me such a gracious, bountiful feast as they are, after all; that would just be rude. And so, I've decided that I will be uploading the first chapter of Ace in the Hole sometime this week. I'm just putting the finishing touches on the first chapter and then I'll post it for your reading pleasure.

My updates will probably be pretty shaky until after the anime convention, because between that, school and work I'm going to be playing a fun little game of balancing. There are still some details I need to work out with my friends and I'll be starting my classes next week (and oh God I still need to buy one of my books). On top of that, I am still working on some original fiction of my own (when the inspiration and time to write strike me) that I'll eventually upload on fictionpress if any of you care to hear about that. And I can assure you that my original fiction is good; after all, my precious lil' brother Nikolai gets to read my current story as I finish to make sure that Piyoko-Nee-Chan doesn't make an ass of herself (like she usually does). :3

Anyway, sorry that this is pretty long and boring. If you felt it was a waste of time to read and that I'm terrible for even posting this, I'm again really sorry. I don't mind if you want to yell at me for this in a reviews, or even not review at all or anything, because I really do get it. I know how much it sucks when a writer stops working on something I enjoy reading; however, it bothers me more when the writer doesn't explain if the story was abandoned or just put on a small hold because of creative block (those are the only reasons where I personally like to be told, though. Everyone is entitled to their privacy and I know full well that fanfiction is meant to be something one enjoys; not something done out of obligation). With that said, I felt that since you have all been so kind to me with your reviews and support that you deserved an explanation for the lack of updates on this story.

I hope you all understand, and hope you'll support me still in the upcoming projects I'll be uploading.

Sincerely,

Pyocola Analogue III


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Warning: There will be some OOC moments and shameless fluff in this chapter. Read at your own discretion.

Chapter Eleven: The Sociopathic Evil Jackass Cliché

Medusa smirked lightly as she rose from her seat, examining how Renegade handled the new blade she'd made for him. She had underestimated Alabaster Usagi's strength of heart the last time they fought; underestimated the _love_ she felt for that human. She had also overestimated her own abilities, if only a touch. She had forgotten that key fact to the Divas true power, the thing that made their weapons so successful in slaying her beasts, and not really made the weapon as reliant on Renegade as it needed to be. She had been sure to fix that this time around, however. "How does everything feel for you, dear?" She asked, scratching down some notes for later use.

"It feels fine. So, am I good to go then?" He asked impatiently, returning his blade to its home at his hip.

She smirked widely at the excitement the other was expressing. Yes, he was definitely a better choice than Ebony Kitsune had ever been. After all, Ebony Kitsune clearly had a more… Heroic personality, or else her powers would not have been bestowed upon her in the first place. She had known it would only be a matter of time before her young charge would take off to join up with that damnable she-cat and turned on her. That was why she had made sure to get every scrap of information about the powers the Precinct could issue its agents; replicating it and making it that much better was more her style.

You know, being a genius of science and all.

"Yes. I'll have Mizune put in the coordinates for your opponents' location and we'll get you on your way," She said calmly, turning to start barking orders. That was when she noticed the sulking mass of fangs and furs sitting a few feet away. "What's your problem now, Free?" She asked with a heavy sigh before stepping over and issuing her commands to her other subordinate.

He let out a long, annoyed sigh. "Why did you bring some **stupid human** into this? I thought that you said we were better than the Precinct and all its stupid members?"

"We are. **That** is why Renegade was born; he is much more talented than those silly little Divas," She said simply. She shifted her lab coat on her shoulders and turned to face him fully. She had not expected that her first successful guinea pig would end up turning into such a petulant child when he was given a baby brother to play with. "Not only that but he is much more familiar with this city, this planet, than anyone aboard our ship is. I do not see how his presence is viewed as such a burden by you, as long as he can pull his own wait."

"Which I can, no problems," Renegade chimed in, sending an icy glare Free's way. The other matched with a dark look of his own.

"And how do we know that his pathetic human nature will not get in the way of him killing these damned girls? That's his job, after all; personally I think he proved he lacks the balls by the simple fact that his weapon was destroyed by those girls last time they fought. He is a waste of your time, Lady Medusa," Free answered back, keeping his voice surprisingly calm. Medusa had to admit she was happily surprised by the logic he brought before her. She had always known Free to be a brutal yet rather bumbling man, lacking any real sense of intellect. Apparently he'd been doing some learning to try and get back in her good graces after his several botched missions.

Renegade was ready with a swift, intelligent retort of his own, however; quick as a flash, he had Free by the throat and pressed to the wall. He unsheathed his short sword before digging it into the other's shoulder. "Shall I show you my prowess, foolish yapping puppy?" He said with a dark chuckle. With a quick twist, block bolts of lightning crackled from the blade and into the wound.

For a moment everything was silent save for the pained screams of Free, body twisting and tensing with the currents of electricity coursing through his body. "Boys, behave yourself," Medusa said in a bored tone of voice. While she was impressed at how quickly Renegade had brought out a feature to his weapon they had yet to test, she needed Free alive. For as occasionally witless and over-reactive the damned man could get he was by no stretch of the imagination still useful. If only slightly so.

"Of course, Lady Medusa," Renegade scoffed while pulling his blade out and deactivating the ability. Free slumped to the ground, eyes wide but unseeing, and he took a step back.

"Impressive," She purred merrily. She then snapped her fingers at one of her little creatures, one she had made from the many specimen she was able to collect here on Earth. "Take Free to the lab. I'll be in to take care of him in a little bit."

The creature made a half caw, half snarl in response before heading over to tend to the injured man.

"Now then," The blonde witch said, indicating with one finger that her youngest recruit follow her to the teleporter she'd installed a few weeks ago, "do not underestimate the Divas this time. They will outnumber you by quite a bit but I know you'll do fine. I've had a communicator attached to the bandana in case you need to call for help."

"I'll only need help disposing of the bodies," Renegade said as he stepped onto the transporter. He was smirking, eyes filled with a sick sense of excitement and pride.

"That's my boy," She said happily, giving his cheek a gentle pat, before stepping back and watching him disappear. She then turned to Mizune, standing in the corner like a silent shadow. "Upload his battle on all the screens in the base. I want to see how well he handles himself while I clean up the mess Free made." She said before turning and marching down the corridor that would return her to her lab.

…

Things had certainly changed, even if it only had been a week since **the event**; that much was obvious as the group clustered together to enjoy an after-school introduction session.

Maka let out a dreamy little sigh as she leaned her chin in her palm, sipping her drink happily. She seemed oblivious to expressions she received from her associates; one was horrified, two were giggling grins, the last a merry smile. "This is sort of disgusting to watch, quite honestly," The horrified one finally chimed in, causing the other four (yes, even Maka) to stop and stare at them.

"What do you mean by that, Kid?" Liz asked with a smile that screamed of terrible, terrible consequences if he did not pick his words very, very carefully.

Kid, however, did not seem to be in the mood to read in between the lines. He rolled his eyes and sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "No offense, Maka, but watching you get all… Lovey-dovey over the fact you have a boyfriend is a bit odd. I always thought you were more sensible than that," He said, voice tinged with disappointment.

Maka blinked, insulted, and opened her mouth to speak, when someone else did it for her. "And I thought you weren't the jealous type. Guess we were both wrong," Maka's eyes lit up as Soul slid into the seat at the large, circular booth beside her.

"Soul! You made it! And on time, too!" She said happily, stealing a glance at the clock before hugging him tightly. He chuckled lightly, returning the embrace and lightly stroking her hair. Patty, Tsubaki and Liz all let out muffled fangirl-esque squeals, overjoyed to see the fruits of their labors, while Kid made a face.

"Oh, please. What is there to be jealous of?" He asked blandly. Soul sent him a warning glare, one of his arms still draped over Maka's shoulders.

"Watch it, GBF. There are rules to be followed; one of them being that I'm the only one allowed to tease her. And I take that rule very seriously," His tone was a little bit lighter than one would expect a serious threat to be, but Maka could tell he meant it by the gleam in his eyes. Kid, meanwhile, just looked baffled.

"GBF? Pardon me, but what does that even mean?" He asked. Patty started laughing immediately.

"It means 'Gay Best Friend', Kid," Liz said, covering her mouth with one hand to resist laughing. The mortified expression Kid made at that, however… Nope, she lost it. She and Patty fell into high-pitched squeals while his face flushed and he glared at them.

"Elizabeth, Patricia, you stop that laughing **right now**! I am most certainly **NOT GAY**!" He roared angrily.

"Well, to be fair, you were kind of acting like a really caddy gay guy," Tsubaki put in meekly. Everyone stared at her for a moment, a blush rising to her cheeks, before all but one of her friends burst into hysterics. Kid glared at her, face turning a deep maroon and his eyes glowing like gold beacons of rage. "Ah… A-Ano… Gomen, Kid…" She whimpering, sinking into her seat, accidentally lapsing into Japanese from her embarrassment .

After the laughing spell was done, and the waitress had come by to get their drink orders, Maka went through with formal introductions between everyone. She then blinked and looked at Soul. "Wasn't Black*Star coming?" She asked calmly.

"He was going to, but he couldn't find anyone to cover his class at the karate school for the day," He said with a casual shrug. She nodded, an evil idea blooming in her head at the memory of the blue haired man. She decided to tuck that away for a little longer, and then spring her scheme when the time was just right.

"Oh, and our friend Chrona was going to come too, but something came up," Patty chimed in with a little pout. She cheered up nearly immediately and grinned at the duo. "So have you two done it yet?"

Maka gagged on the sip of soda she'd been taking in while Soul made a sputtering noise, both turning bright red. She blinked then shot a look at Liz and Tsubaki. "Oh, come on, I know you were both wondering too!"

"That… Isn't any of our business, Patty," Liz said with infinite patience. She then smiled at Soul. "Sorry about my sister. She's very… open with her thoughts."

"I can tell," He said lightly. The rest of the time, thankfully enough, was relatively tame and enjoyable. Even Kid's ruffled feathers seemed to smooth back into place and he joined the discussions between bites of their meals. Maka was in just about every teenage girl's wonderland; her friends and her boyfriend got along! This would certainly make her social life great.

However, as they debated on whether or not they wanted to get dessert, Maka's phone jingled to life with the chime she'd assigned to Blair. She blinked, made a small noise of displeasure, and answered. "Hello?" She asked, holding up her hand at her friends to stay silent.

"Usagi, I need your help now! Renegade sent me a notice demanding a rematch with you today, at the park downtown! He said it has to be one-on-one; none of the other Divas are allowed to participate no matter what! I'm getting all the buildings evacuated right now with the help of the police but it'll be for naught if you aren't here to take him down!" The other blurted out, fast and frantic. Maka winced a bit at the higher pitch her voice took but was still able to get the message without anyone else hearing it.

"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can," She said gently before hanging up, releasing a heavy sigh. She flashed weak smile at her friends. "Sorry, guys, my Papa needs some help with something. I need to get going to meet up with him."

"Seriously? Guess I'll go to my lame piano lessons today then," Soul sighed, shifting out of the booth so Maka could get up. She stood on her tip toes and gave him a little kiss on the lips, giggling.

"You should really stop bailing out of those, Soul. You're parents are only trying to help you, and you shouldn't be so lazy," She said lightly.

"Hmm… Girlfriend I can kiss, or stuffy old tutor with dentures? I still like the sounds of girlfriend I can kiss better, but if you insist," He said in a light teasing tone. She gave him another kiss, adding more pressure and depth this time, before giving his shoulder a little squeeze.

"I promise I'll make it up to you next time we hang out if you just go this one time," She said. And then, with a wave at her gushing friends, she turned and headed out. Once she got outside, she sent Tsubaki a text telling her what was going on. She told them to wait about an hour, and then come to see what had become of their opponent. After that, she changed into Alabaster Usagi and took to the rooftops, aiming to get to her destinations as fast as she could.

Although she did make sure to smile and wave at the people that cheered upon the sight of her. She didn't want to come off as rude or a snob or anything, after all.

When she arrived on the scene, it appeared Blair had not been kidding about evacuating. There were police stationed, ushering people out and forming a barrier for those trying to press inward. She noticed with a smug sense of satisfaction that Kim and Ox were on the other side, being pressed far from where the fight was scheduled to happen. Hell, one of the officer's was even threatening to take Ox's camera away! "Ah! Usagi, you made it!" Blair gushed excitedly upon sight of her charge, darting over and hugging her tightly.

"Of course I came. I'm going to put Renegade in his place," Maka said proudly, patting the other's back lightly. She then stepped back and looked her feline friend in the eyes. "Did Renegade give us a specific time, stating when I should expect him?"

The other shook her head, ears dipping downward. "No, he didn't. He just said that he wanted to fight you and you alone nyah," She said sadly. Her ears suddenly jolted back up and she turned, tail fluffing out, as a dark chuckle resounded from the shadows.

Renegade walked out, one hand on his hip, icy blue eyes locked on his opponent. Maka squared her shoulders and stepped forward as well, her ribbon changing into weapon form as she went. "Looks like you got a new blade since last time. I'm sure Medusa was thrilled when you told her what happened to the first," She said with a smirk.

He glared at her. "She was displeased, but not in my performance. Medusa is an intelligent woman whom can accept when **she's** made a mistake," He said evenly.

"Her only mistake was giving a complete buffoon like you powers," Maka said, raising her scythe. He smirked at her.

"We'll see about that, Lola," He laughed darkly before they rushed at one another. He pulled his blade out right away, recognizing that he shouldn't underestimate her this time. That had been his fatal mistake last time, after all. Their weapons clashed with a loud screech, the sparks from before returning, but this time neither weapon was relenting. Renegade smirked, flexing his free hand, before twisting his body and bringing his fist into the side of her face.

Maka was sent crashing along the ground for a few feet, crying out sharply at the mix of the blow and the road rash she was getting. She sat up and lightly prodded at her torn up shoulder, hissing at the blood and stinging sensation. She then glared Renegade. "You're going to pay for that, you bastard!" She roared angrily, getting back onto her feet.

"Yes, that's right, stay angry, little rabbit! No hunter can enjoy the thrill of a kill if there is no chase, after all!" He laughed happily, launched at her again. This time, however, Maka side-stepped and twirled her body, lifting a leg and smacking him in the back of the head with the heel of her boot. He growled from the ground as she aimed to bring her blade down on his back. He twisted his arm at an uncomfortable angle and caught the blade, earning a gasp from his heroic counterpart. He laughed lightly as his blood dripped down on the blade, using her distracted state to get himself in a more comfortable position. He shifted so that he was on his back, one elbow keeping him propped up. "Are you not used to this? Not being able to defeat an enemy so easily?" He goaded lightly.

"Usagi, snap out of it!" Blair cried from the sidelines, worrying her lower lip. Renegade flashed her a scalding look.

"Stay out of this! This is between me and Thumper here!" He snarled angrily, causing her to flinch. He then turned back to his opponent. "Are you truly this unnerved by how outclassed you are?" He tossed her weapon away from himself, causing her to hop back, but still her eyes were wide with horror on him. He rose and quirked an eyebrow, not liking how this was going. Where was her spark? The fire of fight and the passion to destroy him?

Maka wanted to reply or to act, but she couldn't. She had felt it before, last time they fought, back when he got serious about fighting her. This strange, dark feeling that made her heart feel heavy. This time, however, it was **manifesting**. She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating (if he'd been given some sort of ability to work better with his new blade) but it seemed painfully real.

Invisible to everyone but she, a large behemoth of a monster hovered over Renegade's figure. Its entire body was like a deformed, lumpy, drippy black mass that was meant to resemble a lion. Its mouth was wide open, revealing three rows of razor sharp teeth, the black ooze its body was made of dripping out like saliva. It's beady red eyes were watching her, but they seemed to spark with blood lust. It flexed its claws, releasing an ear-splitting shriek.

Just as it did, Renegade released an enraged snarl and rushed at her again, having grown tired of her lack of action.

'_It's the lion spirit!'_ Maka thought as she blocked him, shaking her mind free. She stole another glance at the monstrosity before looking at Renegade, his eyes seeming somewhat glazed over. _'How did I not realize it the moment I saw that thing? Our powers come from the spirits of animals we are akin to personality wise; that was why our power spirits chose us. Meaning that whoever this guy is has the qualities of a lion – regality, loyalty, and a courageous heart – but Medusa had to twist its very essence to make him useful to her. She… She basically had to corrupt the qualities that made this person themselves, and then re-write them to her advantage!'_

"Are you even taking this seriously?" He growled lowly, glaring at her with so much hate it made her flinch. He grabbed the staff of her weapon and sent it flying, tossing it a few feet from them. "Well then, allow me to prove my worth to you!" With this declaration, he grabbed her arm, pulling her forward and stabbing her in the stomach with his blade.

With a flick of his wrist, black electrical sparks flew into Maka's body and sent her screaming in agonizing pain. She could hear her friends calling to her (the other Divas having probably just arriving) but she couldn't find it in her to cry for help or break free. Her eyes snapped shut, and from the darkness spawned every dark memory she held. Watching her parents fight, her mother leaving them, her father walking arm in arm with other women, those awful moments she had held Soul in her arms, almost certain that he was going to die.

The blade was removed abruptly, a howl and pain coming from Renegade. She slumped to her knees, eyes half-open and vacant. She could hear and see the sneering face of the warped lion, but nothing else. Another figure rushed up to Maka's side, steadying her against them lightly. She could tell they were talking to her, trying to reassure her that she would be okay, but she could only hear a buzzing noise.

The lion man snarled lowly, wincing at his charred shoulder, before glaring at the approaching figures. "Who the Hell do you think you are?" He ground out.

Blair gasped. "C-Captain! Detective Azusa, and Detective Mjolnir!" She could feel tears pricking at her eyes. She had never thought she'd be so happy to see her busy-body bosses in all her life! Renegade suddenly perked up and sneered at the obvious leader, the woman lightly dusting off her polka dot dress.

"So you are the force that Medusa has been warning me to avoid? You seem far too weak and petite to put up a fight, if I may say," He chuckled darkly. She fixed him with a sharp glare, her onyx eyes shimmering with rage.

"I'm going to let you leave to deliver a message to Medusa; remember it well geko. Tell her that her days are numbered geko," The other said in a stern tone.

For a moment the young man looked like he was going to argue, but then he tensed up. He glared off to the side, one hand pressing against his bandana near his ear, before he scoffed. "Whatever. I'll finish you all off… Sooner or later," He chuckled before taking off to return to the base. Despite the ordered retreat, he could feel excitement pounding through hi.

After all, the arrival of the Captain meant that he was a bigger threat than anyone has realized.

The other Divas rushed to Maka's side, watching as the foreign blonde haired woman looked over the wound. "How is she doing, Marie?" One of the other newcomers, a woman with a short black bob, asked gently.

"Well, it's a pretty deep wound but I'm more concerned about the madness he shocked her body with," She said delicately, placing one hand over the wound. A light golden light began to come from her fingers, directly entering the wound. Maka let out a whimper and squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her face into the other's shoulder. "I know, sweetie, I know. But this will make you feel much better." She cooed soothingly.

"Blair, who are these people?" Tsubaki asked, wincing a bit at the thought of her friend's pain. Kid and Liz peered over her shoulder at their usually cheery leader and then at the she-cat. Golden orbs shifted on to the figure that slowly removed their large, orange hat.

"That is my squad's Captain. She's renowned as the most powerful being from her galaxy, and it's true! She is strong, smart, and-!" She trailed off, voice swelling with a mix of pride and anxiety. That was when the other three noticed the tears starting to pool in the Captain's eyes.

"-The biggest coward to ever receive a position of power within the Precinct!"

"Geko geko geko! Azusa! Did I really just **do that** geko?" The petite young woman wailed, both hands grabbing at her long silvery locks. She then dropped her hands, and her hat, to her arms, shuddering and whimpering. "Did you feel the **insanity rolling off of him geko**? I've never been so overwhelmed since **Medusa herself** escaped her cell geko! Oh, geko! **She's made a monster as bad as herself geko**!"

"Really? **That's** your boss?" Kid and Liz deadpanned, looking at their feline cohort in disbelief.

"Of course nyah! Bu-Tan would never lie about something so serious as Captain Eruka!" The other huffed out in a sulky tone of voice.

"We're doomed," The two sighed in unison. It was then they returned their attentions to the golden haired woman with the eye patch, still working on Maka's wound. "And who are you, if I may ask?" Liz interjected curiously.

The other glanced up, her visible honey colored eye lighting up with mirth. "Oh, hello! I'm Detective Marie Mjolnir, another one of Blair's higher ups! It's a pleasure to meet you all!" She said happily, offering her free hand to the inky haired crime fighter.

When she took it, a soothing current rushed through her. As soon as she took her hand back, she cradled it to herself and blinked, completely baffled. "Ah! How did you do that?" She gasped in disbelief, watching as she repeated the action with Kid and Tsubaki as well.

"It's one of my powers; the ability to heal and soothe the frightened," She explained with a soft giggle. She then looked down at Maka worriedly. "But this wound is more stubborn than I thought it would be. Her body was subjected to quite a bit of that man's insanity and it isn't sure how to respond to it."

"Insanity? What does insanity have to do with any of this?" Kid asked interestingly.

"It was probably what caused her to freeze up, now that I think about it. She must have seen that man's Beast of Insanity and was rattled by it. Though I must say I'm impressed with her geko," Captain Eruka said as she walked over, having recomposed herself. She had even put her large, orange frog hat back on. "Most rookie agents would be unable to sense and see insanity, even in such a large amount, with so little training geko. And to then be exposed to it in such a highly concentrated amount and live through it? Even more impressive geko."

"Blair," Detective Azusa said strictly. The three teenagers watched as the cat woman flinched and looked away.

"Y-Yes, Detective Azusa?" She asked meekly.

"This… This is embarrassing beyond compare, you do realize? Not since the war with the MoleMen in the Tridz galaxy have members of the Precinct, rookies or no, been so easily defeated. And this isn't the first time, is it?" She asked coldly, eyes sharp and glinting with rage.

"Azusa, please. There is a time for lecturing and I will be the one to handle it geko," Captain Eruka said, looking at the other in that calm manner again. She then turned to Blair. "We will have to talk about this, Blair, but not right now. For now, I want you all to power down, go home, and try to get some rest geko." She said, nodding to Marie. The other woman carefully picked Maka up, having effectively healed her wound.

"What about Maka? Is she going to be okay?" Tsubaki asked frantically, hand pressed to her heart as she tried to relax. She knew she should trust these people but she had always been such a worry wart.

"She'll definitely need to rest for the evening, but she should be better come morning geko," Captain Eruka said with a reassuring smile. And with that, she led her colleagues away to begin their bigger planning.

End

Notes:

And how many of you saw that little twist with Eruka coming? None of you, that's how many! Bwahahaha! Man, I'm so awesome! B)

Do not adjust your television sets, ladies and gents~! Yes, I have finally updated this. Does this mean that my writer's block for this story is done, and that I'll be updating it more regularly? Well… No, I'm still pretty stuck but I am starting to get it better worked out. I've decided on a few events involving certain characters that need to happen before I get to the point where I'll be settle again, but I still have to figure out what else I need to get explained and tended to. As such, the updates for this will be much slower coming than Ace in the Hole (which should be updated sometime in the next week or so, depending on my schedule). I didn't want to leave it on hiatus any longer because I've honestly been missing it, even with the struggles I'm having with it. And since I'm unsure what will happen in the net chapter, there will not be any descriptions available for a while. Sorry about that. :(

Next Chapter:

N/A


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter Twelve: Excuses for the Romantic Interest Cliché

Maka was safely tucked away in her bed while Blair and her superiors settled in the living room. Luckily enough, Spirit was at work so they would be able to discuss business without having to concern themselves with him. "Will Maka really be okay?" Blair asked, looking at Marie worriedly.

"She'll need rest, like I said before, but she'll recover soon enough. However," She said with a heavy sigh, "that weapon is of a strange sort. It must have been especially designed for its wielder for that electrical current was made of pure insanity."

"What do you mean? How is that even possible?" Yumi asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She leaned back in her seat, hoping to get comfortable so that once Captain Eruka got down to business she could enjoy the show better.

"As we know, Medusa has always been an insane genius," Marie said patiently, looking between her colleagues. She had been trying to figure out how to explain her theory since the moment she started to heal Maka's wound and discovered the oddity of it all. "But I believe that she has stepped into a realm that we feared but never really prepared ourselves for. That blade… It works like one of the weapons the Precinct issues to its recruits. As we know, the weapons are not actually capable of harming a normal, full-functioning human. The weapons are made based upon the powers that the Diva receives, their will power and the strength of their morals. The spirit of the White Rabbit being paired with The Musician in Maka, the spirit of the Scarlet Bird with The Athlete in Tsubaki, and the other two… What tributes did they inherit, Blair?" She asked, glancing at the indigo haired maiden.

"Liz has the spirit of the Black Fox with The Poet, and Kid the spirit of the Golden Tiger with The Artist," She said simply. She then blinked and tapped her chin in deep thought. "Except, now that I think about it… None of those attributes really matches the person assigned to them. I mean, Maka can't play an instrument but Tsubaki can… And Liz likes to take pictures, so that's more of a visual expression than with words… And Kid… Well, Kid himself is a hard one to place."

"Their attributes are jumbled, from the looks of it," Yumi chimed in blandly. She glared at the youngest woman among them, ready to take another jab at her, when their boss made a small noise.

"Not necessarily jumbled, actually. I think it's something more than that geko," The pale haired woman said, cupping her chin with one hand thoughtfully. Her eyes slid shut briefly before she opened them and looked back at Blair, hand dropping back to her lap slowly. "Blair, I remember you mentioning that you've had time to do some digging around into Maka and Tsubaki's lives. Are there any people that have a significant presence in their lives that represent those attributes geko? Anyone tied to them that could be The Musician or The Athlete?"

Golden orbs suddenly widened and shimmered with a spark of realization. "There are nyah~! Maka's boyfriend, Soul, plays the piano and comes from a family of prominent musicians too! And there's this childhood friend of Tsubaki's named Black*Star who is on almost all the sports teams at their school!"

Eruka nodded lightly. "As I thought. The girls' attributes do not come from what they themselves are but from what they admire in those around them," She said with a small smile. She then cleared her throat and turned the Marie. "Sorry we got so sidetracked geko. Please, resume your explanation."

The blonde merely smiled and giggled, waving a hand lightly. "Oh, don't worry. I introduced the deviation anyway," She said merrily. She then cleared her own throat and held out her hands, holding them up like one might when pretending to be a scale. "You see, the Divas access emotions that are human and considered to be **positive**; inner-strength, love, and bravery. However, this Renegade as he calls himself, he taps into emotions that are also human but viewed as more **negative**; narcissism, loathing and, most interestingly, **cowardice**. His blade taps into the power of all his fears and purges them from his system through his attacks, through the insanity his fears bring about in him. In the moments that he wields that blade he has no boundaries; as such, the insanity that lurks in all creatures is multiplied and becomes his motivation. And when the blade makes contact with his opponent, it forces his victim's fears to be pressed to the surface; overwhelming them and making them feel physically weak."

"So you're saying that Renegade is actually a coward? I find that hard to believe," Yumi scoffed lightly. She shook her head at the slightly injured look her associate sent her way. "Marie, I don't mean to insult, but that makes little sense. If they are controlled by their fears than they would have run away the minute we showed up and they saw how truly out-classed they were. But Renegade only retreated because of the message to be delivered to Medusa."

"Give anyone any amount of power and they will suddenly develop an ego, Yumi," Eruka chimed in patiently, flashing a look at the older woman. While she was grateful to have such loyal and dedicated subordinates as her trio, the young woman did sometimes wear thin in her tolerance for Yumi's practical nature. Some things simply could not be explained with logic on its own, after all. "And that, paired with the released insanity, are all that's really pushing this Renegade fellow along, geko. So how should we prepare to combat this, in your opinion, geko?" She asked, looking at Marie.

"The only solution I can think of is to have them face their fears," She said simply. She reached into a small pocket on the inside of her jacket and pulled out a small square shaped black box. "I'll need a few days but I can transform that warehouse you've been training at into a high-tech ops center for us to use."

"Really?" Blair asked excitedly.

"But of course. If Medusa's going to be using top-notch technology to try to beat us than we should even the odds out a little," She said merrily.

It was then Captain Eruka cleared her throat again. "Anyway, it's obvious that Renegade is the source of one of those strange energy readings we were picking up, but what about the other one? Have you run into anything strange since we brought it up geko?" She asked, turning her attention to Maka.

The other shook her head. "I'm afraid not nyah. We've been keeping an eye out for it but nothing's come up, and I didn't see a point in going looking for it," She explained gently. Marie suddenly jolted back up.

"Ah! Just one last thing, Blair," She said quickly, smiling nervously at the Captain. Eruka, however, didn't seem to mind her suddenly jumping back into the conversation. She had said all she needed to say about the matter anyway. "You need to make sure that Maka doesn't let Renegade hit her with that sword again. Otherwise, the results will be… Well, disastrous."

"Nyah? It'll just trap her in a constant state of depression and fear, won't it?" She asked nervous, lips twisting up in an anxious smile. The grave expression on the other woman's face killed any hope she had that it wasn't really that serious.

"No. You see, Maka herself seems to be filled with a lot of fears already," She said, tone eternally patient. But there was an off note to it, a slight decline that carried the gravity of her words. "If Maka Albarn is struck with that blade again, the weight of her fears and the shock of having to face them all at once will kill her willpower and, as a side effect, **kill her as well**."

…

It was far from a good day for Maka; in fact, there seemed to be a lot of days like that lately. There were only two plus sides to the day. The first was that Captain Eruka had told her to take the day off, since she was still pretty badly bruised from the beating she'd received at the hands of Renegade the day before. The second was that Soul's private tutor had to cancel their lesson for the day and he had asked if he could come by after school so they could hang out and watch a movie or something. While both these things were pretty major positives for her, there were too many downsides to the day.

She had woken up unable to get up without crying out sharply in pain. It was then that she discovered that the healing treatment she had received had been effective enough, but she still had a large and tender bruise on her side from where she had hit the lamppost the day before. When Spirit asked her what had happened, she lied and said she accidentally got shoved into the bleachers during a game of basketball in gym the day before. He had been enraged that some punk had shoved his daughter hard enough to cause that kind of damage, and even offered to let her take the day off. However, given she had taken those days off after Soul got hurt, she voted against it. Her hopes of perfect attendance had already been ruined but she was adamant that she not miss any more of her days.

Second, she discovered that Blair's bosses had moved into the house right next door, and that they had installed secret cameras all over her house. She was already irate enough with just Blair living so close, but did her three superiors really need to live so close? Why didn't they move near Kid, Liz, and Tsubaki, since she was already under Blair's watchful eyes? Or, better yet, why hadn't they at least bugged their houses too? **But no**, they claimed they had to stay close for the little feline's sake; they wanted to be able to better monitor Blair's practices as a leader. That little bit of information had left Maka's eye twitching with frustration; after all, how was she supposed to enjoy getting some alone time with her boyfriend knowing those three could potentially be watching?

And then, to top it all off, Blair had told her that from now on she was not allowed to fight Renegade. "Leave Renegade to Tsubaki or one of the others from now on. He's far too advanced for you," She had explained quickly, licking one of her paws carelessly.

"What?" She had squawked, pausing in putting her hair up. She turned, indignant, with only one pigtail tied into place and the strands that would have been tied in the other resting on her shoulders. "He caught me by surprise, Blair! You act like I'll let him get the better of me again!"

"I am your commander and you will do as I order; even if you will still be in charge of the other members of your squad. And this is a direct order that you will not take Renegade on again," She had said, a strange meanness to her words she never normally held. The simple tone with which she spoke forced Maka to really analyze her behavior. The other swished her tail, looking away with a fog in her eyes. Clearly there was something else bothering Blair, but she wasn't exactly sure what. Because Blair had shown only a small variety of emotion, it was hard to gauge the difference between some of them.

In the end, that was the spark that fueled her vengeful flames.

"I owe him a few good hits, Kid, and she's telling me that because I wasn't prepared once I deserve to be denied a basic right!" She ground out angrily as she and the mentioned male headed toward the school gates. She was going to have to wait for Soul while Kid and the others left for patrol, so she figured she'd rant while she was with someone that would understand her pains. Well, she had been **hoping** he'd understand her pains.

She seemed to forget that this was Kid she was dealing with; and Kid… Well, sometimes he was just **such a caddy bitch.**

"She doesn't really have much of a reason to trust that you can win on your own, you know," He said bluntly. Maka stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him, clearly insulted. He rolled his eyes at her, stopping so that he could fully face her. "You don't have a particularly good track record when it comes to dealing with a human opponent, Maka. Blair had to step in when you found Free; yes, she told me about that and no, you are not excused of failure just because your weapon couldn't affect him. Second, the whole thing with Liz before we got her away from Medusa. In just your first fight with her, she whipped you about like a rag doll and even managed to find out who you were without the powers. In your second bout with her she nearly killed a civilian while you stood there like a dolt. This whole thing with Renegade is just the latest in a string of botched experiences. You know what they say, after all; three strikes and you're out."

Maka just stared at him for a moment before clenching her fists and taking a menacing step toward. "Really? You really think you have any right to say something like that to me?" She ground out angrily

"Have I made as many mistakes as you? I think not," He scoffed lightly.

"In yet I'm still considered the leader. So I guess that shows that you aren't as high and mighty as **you** think, huh, Super Skirt?" She barked back coldly, glaring at him. He looked alarmed then glared right back at her.

"Look, I never meant for this to become a pissing match; I'm just trying to help you see things in a different angle," He argued back evenly. He just honestly did not understand this girl sometimes. Wasn't she being a bit rude? Or was it because he was agreeing with Blair? Admittedly, yes, but he was only trying to help look out for her. In an odd way they were friends and he wanted her to be safe, after all. She glared at him, not seeing his words as anything but an attack.

"And have you been doing this as long as me?" She asked, her voice just as even as his. Her answer was silence, which filled her with a smug sense of pride. "That's what I thought. Check your ego at the door when you're dealing with me, Kid."

He growled lowly at her, debating on whether or not to argue back, before he turned and stormed off. He could already see Liz and Blair waiting by the gate for him. "Let's go get Tsubaki. We have a patrol to take care of," He snapped quickly, not even sparing the woman or feline a second glance. Liz glanced back at Maka, whom still looked peeved, and then jogged up to match Kid's pace. Blair ran along the brick fence of the school on the other side of the young man.

"What's wrong now?" Liz asked patiently. He let out a gruff, annoyed noise. This only got him a roll of her eyes. "If you don't tell me what's wrong there's no way that I can help you."

"You wouldn't be able to help anyway. You'd be on **her side**, not mine," He ground out through clenched teeth.

"Do you mean Maka? What did you two get into a fight about?" She asked, blinking a bit in disbelief.

He suddenly stopped short and looked at Liz with a glare, anger flickering in his large golden orbs. "Am I the only one that understands the **gravity** of our predicament? We are fighting against a madman that we know nothing about and that can kick our asses faster than he could snap his fingers! In yet, you all seem more concerned with dating and boys and all that other **ridiculous, girly bullshit**!"

Cerulean orbs narrowed themselves, letting her words sink in before she spoke. "None of us are trying to say that this whole thing isn't serious, Kid, but we also want to be able to have lives outside of it. I mean, just because we have a job to do doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to still be normal teenagers from time to time," She stated in a surprisingly even voice. She had learned that feeding into Kid's anger with more anger always made things worse. The best way to handle him was be as calm and logical as possible.

"With the way things are going right now, it seems like soon we'll be working in shifts instead of working as a team!" He barked out. She glared at him.

"We never know when there will be an attack so we're trying to make time to have our own lives outside of the responsibilities of being a Diva! If there is a big attack, however, we will of course all fight! We understand what is expected of us!" She said tensely, clenching her fists at her side. She wasn't going to blow up at Kid; that would get them nowhere and she knew it.

"I'm **so sure**," He said flatly before resuming his march toward Tsubaki's school. Liz watched his retreating back and sighed, her entire form going slack.

"Kid," She said sadly before slowly following after him. Blair could only watch on, her ears falling flat against her skull and eyes closing tight.

'_Maybe Bu-Tan really needs Captain Eruka and the other's help?'_

…

Maka had to give Soul Evans credit; the boy knew how to turn a girl's mood around like flipping on a light switch. When he had found her, disgruntled and still fuming from Kid, he had listened to her rant about how he was a jerk. She had lied about what they fought about, of course, but still Soul had simply listened and nodded. He would occasionally smirk and chuckle when she said something in her fury that made no sense or was loaded with profanities (because he always found it adorable when she got that flustered over something). And then, once they returned to her place, he put in _No Strings Attached_, one of Maka's all-time favorite romantic comedies.

It also helped that he was a horrifically wonderful kisser.

She giggled lightly when, just as they pulled apart, they were greeted with the sound of Ashton Kutcher declaring, "You're miniature! You fight like a hamster!" Soul glanced at the screen, the index finger of one hand lightly twirling in her hair while the other was resting contently around Maka's waist. Her arms were around his neck, one tangled in his snowy locks and the other lightly fisted in the material of his school blazer.

"I still don't see what you like about these movies so much. The real world doesn't work like this," He said evenly. Maka let out a small huffing noise and rested her head on his shoulder, snuggling into him eagerly.

She briefly wondered when he had managed to get them in this position (his back against the arm of the couch, legs spread across the piece of furniture, with her settled on his lap comfortably) before she decided to answer. "Oh, come on; it's totally sweet! You cannot look me in the eye and honestly say that you aren't occasionally touched by one of these movies," She retorted merrily.

"You know what movie has touched me? The_ Jackass_ movies. All that abuse to their balls… I sympathize with those guys so much, after all the abuse I've been through from you and your damn books," He scoffed flatly. She blinked then glared lightly at the television screen.

"Not to mention when those monsters attacked you," She mumbled, starting to sit up. Soul, apparently having none of it, responded by wrapping his arms tightly around her and keeping her pinned.

"Oh, no you don't. You are not getting back on yourself about that," He said flatly. Maka blinked a bit then growled and tried to press herself back up. "Nope. I'm just going to sit here and **love **the self-blame out of you."

"And you call my movies and books cheesy," Maka grumbled, rolling her eyes and trying to squirm free carefully.

"Nope," Soul said with a small chuckle, tightening his hold ever so slightly again.

"Soul, let me up!"

"Not in the mood,"

"Soul, if you don't let me go than-!"

"If I hold you down you can't do shit. You can't reach any books like this,"

"…"

"You know, I should have thought of this years ago. It's a fool-proof plan to get out of punishment from you,"

"… You do realize you'll have to let go of me eventually?"

"Not necessarily,"

"…"

"…"

"Soul, let me up **right now**!"

"No way, Jo-Oh holy shit!" A small tussle resulted from the struggle created by the two teens. While Maka was trying to shove her arms outward, to break his hold, he tightened his that much more. The little battle didn't last long, however; Maka had forgotten that she had the day off for a very good reason. Soul's hold tightened just a tad too much, and pain shot up from the pressure on her bruise.

"Ow! S-Soul! Stop, let go!" She wailed loudly, hoping she sounded angry rather than distressed. She didn't want him to know she was actually in pain. He released her immediately, jolting up with concern, while she slipped back a bit so that she was sitting on a cushion. Soul had shifted as well, so that he was sitting sideways on the couch.

"What happened?" He asked quickly, looking at her.

"M-My leg was getting twisted weird and hurt," She bluffed. He saw through that quickly enough and was pressing closer to her. He caught on when she shifted so that her right side was a little further from his reach. He caught her by the arm, pulled her a little closer, and lifted her shirt with his other hand. "Soul!" She squeaked loudly, wincing a bit at the horrified gleam that came to his face when he saw the bruise.

He was silent for a moment, just staring at it, before he looked up at her seriously. "Did… Did your dad…?"

"What? No! Papa is a moron, not an abuser!" She yelped indignantly, pressing his hands back to him and her shirt back down. She glared down and off to the side, sighing heavily. She didn't mind lying to her Papa that much, but she **hated** lying to Soul. She hadn't meant for him to find out, so that she wouldn't, but yet again it appeared that her powers were going to force her hand. "Some of the guys in gym got a little too competitive during a game of basketball yesterday. They had only meant to shove me back a little but I stumbled into the bleachers and landed on one of them weird. Pretty klutzy of me, huh?" She smiled and laughed nervously at the last sentence to leave her mouth.

Her words clearly didn't lighten the mood, if Soul's murderous look was anything to go off of. "Who was it? Who shoved you? Was it Hiro? I'll bet it was Hiro! That guy has always had this weird thing of trying to make himself look like such a badass!" Maka knew she shouldn't think it, but Soul was… Kinda cute when he got all protective and concerned with her well-being. Soul had always been somewhat of a guard dog for her but it appeared that having their emotions out in the open made him take off the filter on his protective nature. "I'll kick his ass next time I see him!"

"Soul, it wasn't Hiro and it was an accident. Please settle down," She said gently.

"How the **Hell** do you give someone a bruise like **that** from an accident?" He snarled out lowly. Maka smiled lightly and reached over, resting her hand against his cheek. He looked at her and the rage started to simmer down slightly. "They would deserve it, you know."

"I know. But don't go unleashing the beast on some stupid, uncool high school boy, please? For me?" She asked, batting her eyelashes a little bit. He closed his eyes and nodded into her palm slightly, leaning into the warmth of her touch.

He always melted into her, he realized as she pulled him close and he rested his head against her shoulder. _'Only for Maka,'_ He thought to himself. The thought of someone hurting her, the thought of her crying… It drove him **absolutely** **mad**. _'I'm the only one that can protect Maka.'_

His eyes opened briefly, flashing an icy tint, before returning to their usual ruby and sliding shut again.

End

Notes:

This chapter… Was probably one of the harder ones I've had to write (one of the reasons it's a tad on the short side). I had originally planned for a lot of what will happen next chapter to happen in this one, but then I decided that I didn't want to do that. I wanted just a little more space between introducing another key character. On top of that, I wanted to start the whole "Lying-to-the-people-I-love" thing for Maka. That was the only part that I really had planned to work into here, other than all that plot stuff. Sorry if this chapter seems like… Well, filler. :T

Also, I probably won't update both fics on the same day for, like, forever. It's just that I was able to crank this one out really quick after I finished Ace in the Hole.

Next Chapter:

N/A


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Also, this plot is supposed to be a parody of every power girl anime out there so I may take elements from multiple ones; I don't own those elements either.

Chapter Thirteen: The Valiant (?) Knight of Solo Justice Cliché

The last few weeks of patrol had been rather infuriating and tedious to Maka. Renegade was always there, running amuck, but she was never allowed to take charge of his battles. No, she had to hand them over to Kid; whom, it turned out, was the only one of the team whom had the ability to keep up with him while taking the least amount of damage (partly, in Maka's opinion, because Renegade never pulled out that damned sword of his when he was dealing with Kid). The two would go at it until they were both breathing hard and wearing thin while Maka, Tsubaki and Liz handled the monsters sent to accompany him (as well as the occasional guest appearance made by Free, whom was an annoying bee compared to his associate). She and Kid had given up all together on talking and, as such, things for the team were quite a bit tense. It was made worse by the fact Marie claimed that The Staff of Purity, a Precinct weapon that could only be used when all members of a squad were on the same wavelength, might be able to stun Renegade long enough to take him into custody.

She had the hypothesis that it may cause a temporary loss of his abilities, but she, Yumi and Eruka had agreed against the four teens risking the use of it in battle until they could have a more certain answer. "If it doesn't make him lose his powers," Eruka had said patiently at the annoyed groans and moans of the rookies, "than we will be revealing how much stronger than you all that he actually is geko. We can't risk Medusa realizing that she has you four so outclass with just one creation; just stick with laying into him with your usual weapons geko. That will have a better chance of wearing him down since he'll have to move around to avoid the blows geko."

"Is he really that much more powerful than us?" Kid asked, blinking a few times and seeming wounded. Eruka had taken the coward's way out by rising, turning, and walking off with Marie close behind her.

That had been last Friday, a whole week ago, and Maka couldn't help but agree with their big bosses. While they had certainly gotten strong enough to take down those mutations that Medusa sent their way with the greatest of ease, Renegade was on a completely different level. Though, she had to admit, she was smugly satisfied with how Kid was struggling with it just as much as she would have been; even more delighted by how Renegade's hand never so much as twitched toward his cursed blade when he was dealing with Kid.

She forced herself out of that and focused on the matters at present. And at that time they were actually in a battle.

To be fair, she didn't really consider them to be battles anymore. No, it was more like they were doing chores, or participating in a work-out. She glanced over at Kid as she easily decapitated the strange anomaly that had been fighting her. The thing was so altered and mutated that she couldn't really see any of the animal parts used to create it, horrifically enough. What had alerted her to Kid's predicament, however, was the fact that he seemed to be in a rather… Well, dicey situation.

Renegade was straddling him, one hand keeping the smaller male's hands pinned above his head. She was so surprised that she took a double take, then glanced around to see if Liz or Tsubaki had noticed. She was disappointed that they were still fighting, but then turned her attention back to what was going on with the youngest member of the team. "Let me up, you jackass!" Kid snarled in his fake girl's voice.

He was answered by a dark chuckle. "Such a spunky little thing you are. I like that in my women," He purred darkly, eyes glinting. Maka's jaw nearly hit the ground while Kid tried to sputter out a response. After all, **how exactly** does one respond to as obvious a come-on as **that**? "And to think, you're a tigress… You know, lions and tigers are both such regal creatures. How about we find out if Ligers can be born through some blood, sweat and tears, sugar?" And did he-? **Yes**! **Holy Shit**, Renegade just **winked **at the end of that sentence!

It was official; at that moment, Maka Albarn **knew** that there had to be a God.

Despite how much she was adoring this poetic justice, she decided that she should probably step in. Something told her that if Renegade got a little too ahead of himself, and grabbed onto Kid's throttle under the skirt, one of them would lose more than just their manly pride. She darted over, quick as a flash, and brought the toe of her boot right into Renegade's crotch.

"Keep it in your pants, Fluffy," She said evenly as he rolled off of her comrade. She then extended her hand toward the still flustered and traumatized Kid. "You need some help, Tora?"

He blinked and looked up at her, eyes wide and slowly realizing. "He-I-You!" He jumbled out, not caring to disguise his voice. Maka, however, was pretty sure that Renegade hadn't noticed, what with him having bigger concerns. She rolled her eyes at him and indicated with her fingers that he take her hand.

"Yeah, why do you think I stepped in? King of the Jungle here apparently wanted to make you his queen, and I can't have that on my watch. Your ass is mine until the world is safe again, after all," She said casually. Kid blinked before a small grateful smile came up on his lips and he took her hand. Maka calmly yanked him up to his feet and glanced over at Renegade, whom was using a nearby wall to pull himself back to his feet, one hand clutching at his tender area. "You'd better not get frisky with Tora again, or your happy sack is going to take another beating."

"Oh, you really are a gem, aren't you, little rabbit?" Renegade laughed, groaning lowly as he glared at her. His eyes reminded her briefly of icicles; sharp and lethal. She then shook it off and smirked at him widely.

"You're just pissed because you got cock-blocked," She said with a casual shrug. Kid glared at her, cheeks turning pink, but didn't say anything. Maka then glanced over at Liz and Tsubaki, seeing as they had just finished off their monster opponents. "Tori, Kit! Which one of you wants to deal with Mittens over here?" She called, indicating him with a jerk of her thumb.

Tsubaki blinked and tilted her head, wings fluffing out a bit in curiosity. "I thought that we had agreed that Renegade would be Tora's opponent," She pointed out curiously.

"Yeah, well, turns out that Renegade is a would-be sexual offender, given that he was trying to get in Tora's skirt a minute ago," She shrugged. Tsubaki covered her mouth with one hand, gasping audibly. Liz' eyes widened before a small smirk spread across her lips.

Kid glared at Maka. "Does **everybody** need to know about this?"

"No, but they **are** our teammates. They have a right to that information," Maka shrugged again. Liz waltzed over to Kid, draping an arm over his shoulders.

"I always told you you'd be able to attract a man with that ass," She snickered out lightly.

"Shut up!" Kid squeaked out angrily. Maka and Liz exchanged looks before they started busting up. It wasn't there faults, though, right? After all, Kid was being an easy target (like usual).

"Hey, guys, a little help!" Tsubaki suddenly cried out, defending herself from an attack by their opponent. The other three were immediately leaping into the fray, hoping to offer their avian partner some much needed help.

'_Good thing Blair isn't here,'_ Maka thought as she aimed to strike at Renegade's side. He hopped back a step, successfully dodging the blow and forcing her to take a few quick steps to right herself. _'Otherwise this wouldn't be happening.'_

"Finally decided to face me yourself, Lil' Miss Foo-Foo? I thought I scared you off after getting rough with you last time!" Renegade goaded smugly, his smirk widening.

"Well, when the adults are away, the children will play," She snickered right before aiming to stab him in the side. However, when he shifted to block the blow, she pivoted to his unguarded side and brought the cold steel of the staff of her weapon into the side. At the same moment, Tsubaki went to slash at his shoulder. Renegade grabbed her blade with the opposite hand and threw her off to the side, glancing over at the fast approaching duo of Kid and Liz. With his other hand, he sent a large blast of dark, glowing energy their way. Maka's eyes widened before she took a few quick steps backward, holding her scythe in a defensive position. "That's a new trick."

"Oh, not really. I just didn't really have a reason to use it up until now," He chuckled, rolling the shoulder of the arm he'd just sent the blast from. The smoke cleared to reveal Maka's teammates coughing and struggling to get back up. "After all, you've all been doing pretty good at splitting up with your tasks. Which is good, because Lady Medusa told me she wants me to do a little more research on you morons before I kill you. What I really want to know, though… Why did you suddenly sick your little kitten friend on me? You seem more than eager to come after me now." He was slowly walking toward her, the mocking sneer he usually wore falling away. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion and he looked so terribly serious and intimidating… Maka felt her body freeze up for a moment.

It was back again in full force; this calculated, predator-like aura and the blob of a lion beast. Yes, it was dark and foreboding, but Maka could tell that it was all for a purpose. Eruka had explained to her that it was his insanity that she had sensed; could that really be the case? Wasn't insanity when one became the **opposite** of themselves, and gave way to all their inhibitions?

She decided that if **this** was insanity, it was the **classiest damned** **kind** of insanity that was.

"Where are your **brave words** now, Alabaster Usagi?" He asked as he came to stand right in front of her. She flinched back, ears drooping and knees knocking at how he said her name. There was just something so very dreadful and heavy about it all. Was this why Blair had told her to leave Renegade to her partners? They couldn't sense what she could sense, after all; they didn't know to feel as much fear as she did. "Why won't you **say anything**? Why won't you answer the man whom will change your **pathetic world**?" His voice was rising, his anger boiling, and Maka's fear peaked beyond the point it had last time.

She moved to run away, flee like a rabbit facing down one of its many opponents in the forest would, when he backhanded her as hard as he could.

She hit the ground with a small huff. "You just **don't get it**, do you? You are all **powerless **to stop the changes that **I will bring**!" He growled down at her. His tail was flicking from side to side angrily, ears flat against his skull. "This world will be **mine** to control and **you** will all be remembered as **nothing** but the **useless heroines of a by-gone era**! No longer will **I** be judged, or persecuted, for how **I** am! **I** will no longer be expected to **live up to anyone else's expectations**; **for I will be the new status quo**!"

It was then that a flash of silver flew in front of Maka and sent Renegade back with a sharp cry. "Not as long as I am around, you will not," The deep voice of the newcomer declared sternly. Maka blinked a few times, examining this new stranger curiously.

His outfit reminded her a lot of The Phantom, from The Phantom of the Opera (she'd seen it once, with Soul's family over a summer vacation some years back), but his mask covered both eyes and most of his nose. Also, it was not the traditional white, but an interesting shade of grey. It was a pronounced color, one that drew the eye, but it was also muted, like silver without the shine. Yet it wasn't diluted as to be called a regular grey, either. The cape contrasted by being a deep, rich crimson that oddly matched with it all. In his hands he held a large, black colored ax with a gold strip along the blades edge. Lastly, Maka noted that he had tawny, triangular ears and a bushy tail. "What's with all these newbies stepping into my bouts with you, bunny bitch?" Renegade snarled, wiping at his cheek. Maka gasped, eyes widening at the realization.

Whoever this newcomer was, his weapon could actually hurt Renegade; he had drawn blood through a cut to the other's cheek!

"You may call me Platinum Crusader, you foolish little kit," He said evenly. He took a step toward the other, ax at the ready. "Now, draw your blade and face me like a man."

Renegade stared at him for a moment, snarling lowly, before he blinked a bit and that eerie calm overtook him again. "No, I don't think I will. This new development… Lady Medusa will be interested in this," He said before turning to leave. He paused and spared another glance at the still startled bunny girl. "Especially your little… Change of heart." And then, just like before, he was off.

Maka swallowed, rising to her feet and walking toward the newest crime-fighter to step on the scene. "Thank you for the help back there," She said, offering him her hand. Her response was a harsh glare and her hand being slapped away. "H-Hey! What was that for?" She yelped indignantly, clutching her hand to her chest.

"Are you all always so useless, or did I just catch you on a bad day?" He asked flatly, ears dropping. Maka silently cursed that she could not see his eyes because of the white covers over them that came with the mask. She assumed that they worked like one-way glass; he could see out but no one else could see in. "That whole spectacle was absolutely embarrassing to watch."

"W-What? You've been watching us **this whole time** and **just now** decided to step in?" She snapped angrily.

"I was actually the first to arrive on the scene, in the shadows, but then I sensed you all coming. I figured it'd be a good idea to see if you were friend or foe before I stepped in. But, honestly, you could be either and I'd still have just as much ease as Renegade in handling you," He snorted, snapping his fingers. His ax turned into a small keychain, which he slid into a pocket on the inside of his suit.

Maka growled and clenched her fists at her side, resisting the urge to punch this guy in his smug face. "Oh please! You only laid that hit on Renegade because he was startled and slowed down by what we did. You're just a coward," She said lowly. He turned to face her, though she could not tell if he was glaring at her.

"I have been protecting this city from alien invaders since before any of you showed up. And, big shocker, I haven't been on public news or seen by citizens. And you know why? Because no citizens have ever been placed in harm's way by me," He was smirking a bit at the last words he uttered. Maka was glaring at him, her arm starting to pull back to lay a blow on him. "Then again, what should be expected? I am a prairie wolf; born and bred to be superior to an itty bitty bunny rabbit."

"Wait, did you say **prairie** wolf? Isn't that just another term for **coyote**?" Kid chimed in with a quirked eyebrow. Platinum Crusader stared at him for a moment, before swiping his cape and creating a huge gust of wind. In said distraction, he took his chance to disappear, much like the Divas tended to do. "Wow… Is that what we normally do? How terribly rude." He remarked simply before powering down, given there were no civilians. They had made sure they evacuated as soon as Renegade showed up.

"That jackass," Maka grumbled, powering down as well.

"What he said was interesting though," Tsubaki said as she walked over. Liz was close behind with a small smirk on her lips. "Maybe we should check in on it with Blair."

"I'll ask her about it at dinner," Maka said with a small shrug.

"So, what was it like to be touched by a **real man**, Kid?" Liz snickered teasingly, draping an arm around him again. He glared up at her.

"I despise that bastard, and now I have even more reason to defeat him," He ground out angrily. He then sent a glance Maka's way, still seeming a tad annoyed. "And… Thanks… For the save, back there. I'm grateful that you technically went against orders to help me."

She blinked, a bit stunned, but gave him a small smile. "Not a problem, Kid. Just remember to use that move if he ever tries anything like that again," She said with a small smile. He nodded, though he seemed a bit hesitant. Maka couldn't necessarily blame him; he was a guy, after all.

He probably felt a twinge of sympathy for the other getting slammed in the family jewels, whether he deserved it or not.

"Anyway, let's head out," Maka said, stretching and yawning. At least things between she and Kid could hopefully settle back into their odd, mutual respect and like of one another. She stared up at the sky briefly, eyes narrowing. _'Well, you're yet another odd duck thrown into this pond, Platinum Crusader. But, tell me… Will you be an asset or a hindrance?'_ She wondered.

…

Blair, Yumi, and Eruka watched as Marie ran to and fro in front of the large curtains she had placed in front of her newest invention. She was grinning like an idiot while doing her best ping-pong impersonation. "So what is it you've created, exactly?" Yumi asked, pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose calmly.

"It's a special machine that will bring to existence the Divas greatest fears!" She said excitedly, grabbing a large golden rope and giving a sharp yank. The curtains broke apart to reveal…!

"Is that… You made a port-o-potty," Yumi said flatly, slapping her forehead and letting out a low groan. Marie scowled and tapped on the side with her fingers.

"It may appear that way but it is actually a high-tech piece of machinery. Inside is a chair and helmet that will trap the wearer in their own mind," She smiled proudly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, unless they find the ability to overcome their fears. Or are released by someone on the outside monitoring their brain activity."

"And you believe that this will help the Divas in their battle against Renegade geko?" Eruka asked, standing and approaching the large box. She walked around it, one hand wrapped around her chin in thought.

"Absolutely! If they have no fears to be manipulated, then they'll be less vulnerable to insanity and being seriously injured by his evil blade," She said cheerily.

"But everybody is afraid of something nyah! Nobody can be absolutely fearless!" Blair joined in, ears flattening to her head in concern. She actually started to worry her lower lip between her teeth. "This machine will not do much for us, really."

"I understand that, Blair," Marie said patiently. She clicked on a near-invisible button on the side and a small monitor popped out. "This machine is only meant to help them conquer their **greatest** fears, the ones that could weight them down if used to control them. Certain fears are normal and, honestly, necessary for a healthy existence. The fears that Renegade's blade plays into, however, are fears that have formed as huge, unhealing wounds on the Divas hearts'. If we can heal those major gashes then the minor paper cuts and bruises will be easier for them to manage as well."

"And you really think it will work?" Yumi asked skeptically, standing up and walking over to investigate further as well. Marie huffed lightly.

"Of course! Here, let me show you the monitoring system!" She said while clacking away at the touch-screen keyboard of her monitor. She typed in the proper data, waiting for the robotic voice to announce the absence of a test subject.

Instead, she received a, "Coolant fan missing; immediate system shut down." She blinked then growled and tried to over-ride it. How dare it accuse her of not putting in the coolant fan? She would never forget something so important to the function of the device! With a quick click of the 'Enter' key, she smirked proudly as she was answered by three little dings. That should fix the problem! "Self-destruct protocol activated. Systems will reach critical pressure in 5… 4… 3… 2…!"

Ka-Boom!

When the smoke cleared, the four women all gazed at the other, sprawled about the warehouse in various places, positions, and states of disarray. Marie was the worst, completely covered in soot and ick. "It has a few… Minor adjustments necessary, it appears," She said with a nervous smile.

The other three women just sweat-dropped and sighed at their latest set back.

End

Notes:

Yet another short chapter… I will seriously **punch myself** if I keep this trend up. **I swear by all that is Holy the next chapter will be much longer**. :I (Yes, this is my srs bznes face.)

And now we have the Platinum Crusader~! As you can all see, he doesn't much like the Divas. But will he eventually change his tune? Perhaps~! And the reason he has more of a mask than most of the characters that fall into his genre? Because, for as much as I love you, Darien… That little itty-bitty mask does absolutely shit to hide your identity. :T

Next Chapter:

N/A


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